


On my Own

by SelanPike



Series: Moebean Saga [1]
Category: Super Mario Bros.
Genre: Gen, old stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 08:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 21,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelanPike/pseuds/SelanPike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being defeated by the Mario brothers, Fawful finds he must strike it out on his own. But when he's been led by Cackletta all his life, can he really cope with suddenly being alone?</p>
<p>(Originally posted on FF.N in 2006.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The chapter in where Cackletta is being no where to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This begins my attempts to copy the bulk of my FF.N archive over to AO3. This will be a long, arduous task.
> 
> As said in the summary, this was originally posted over the course of April - July 2006. I was 18 at the time I wrote this which is... a little shameful. It's not quite up to my current standards, but it's still a fun little story and I hope that you will enjoy it.

Fawful hit the water with a splash. He thrashed and swam and tried to stay afloat, but he sank like a thing weighted down by many heavy things. He watched the surface fall away from him as he continued to flounder around fruitlessly. A small school of fish scattered and separated as they passed by his fumbling form, and he suddenly remembered that he had various gadgets of a mechanical nature on his person that were probably weighing him down. Feeling stupid for not having realized this immediately, he set about pulling every last little machine out of all of the hidden pockets on his clothes. Meanwhile, he continued to sink and his lungs quickly ran out of oxygen. His chest hurt from holding his breath. By the time he fell down a hole into an underwater cave he felt as though his lungs might burst. He wished he could turn off his body's need to breathe. He pulled off one of his heavy shoes. It was taking every ounce of his being just holding back the instinct to breathe in. He ripped off the other shoe. Home free! He had achieved neutral buoyancy, and that was enough. He lifted his arms to swim back up, but his strained respiratory system got the best of him and, without thinking, he opened his mouth and took in a breath full of water. His eyes widened—what had he done!

He noticed that he felt better, rather than feeling like he was drowning.

He looked around. How, how… oh! Of course! The Mario brothers had done this as well; they had had their own underwater adventures. It seemed that some portions of the Oho Ocean's bottom had some strange form of water that was breathable to lung-bearing animals. What luck that he would fall into one of these places! He grinned, now full of calm and renewed fury, and swam back up.

He gasped and coughed upon breaching the surface. Suddenly breathing air into water-filled lungs was not pleasant. He coughed and hacked for a while before looking up at the sky at Bowletta's castle, flying high in the sky. He squinted in the bright sunlight, and saw some little dots flying out of the castle. He squinted more. The first was… Prince Peasley, maybe? And the other looked like Mario and Luigi hanging from Blahblanadon. He grinned more. The great Cackletta had them on the run! Any moment now, she'd fly out in pursuit and…

and…

And that's when the castle exploded.

His jaw dropped and he gaped on in horror, watching as bits of the castle flew out in every direction before falling to the ocean below.

He hadn't seen her fly out. Cackletta was still in there.

He screamed. " _Cackletta!_ I am coming there for you!"

He swam as fast as his tiny limbs allowed, ignoring his own fatigue, and made his way to where the debris had fallen. The water was hot here and the air was choked with steam from the impact between the lava from the castle and the water of the ocean. Mangled hunks of wood, stone, and lighter metals floated on the waves, along with a huge amount of small, round, porous igneous rocks that had cooled and hardened in mid-air. He held onto a mass of wood to stay afloat while he rested. He looked around, but couldn't see anything in the searing mist.

"Cackletta!"

No answer but the crashing of waves and the hissing of lava on water.

"O great Cackletta! I who is Fawful am calling out so that you may know the direction in which you should have swimming!"

Still nothing.

"Your faithful apprentice would have much appreciation if you would say something to let him know you are being okay!"

He strained his ears. He couldn't hear her.

" _Cackletta!_ " he screamed as loud as he could.

When no answer came, he dunked himself into the scalding water. He looked around, fighting the pain in his eyes caused by the hot salt water, but saw nothing but sinking debris. No sign of his mistress. He returned to the surface and climbed up on top of the wood pile

"Cackletta! I am fearing that you may have death! I am having hope that I may be full of much incorrectness! Please be calling out to Fawful!"

A seagull squawked. No other living thing made a sound.

Fawful swallowed a lump in his throat and sat down, finding himself suddenly speechless for the first time in his life. He pulled his knees to his chest.

Could it be that his mistress, the great and powerful Cackletta, greatest witch in the Beanbean Kingdom was… dead? Really and truly, in every sense of the word, _dead?_

He didn't want to give in to that possibility, but the idea wouldn't leave his head. He saw that explosion. And there was no way she would have let Mario and Luigi leave if she wasn't… no! What was he thinking? His mistress was alive in this searing sea somewhere, probably needing help, and here he was just letting himself think that she was already dead!

He jumped back into the water and swam from chunk of wreckage to chunk of wreckage, looking for Cackletta. He scoured the surface and, when that proved fruitless, he dove down to the seabed and searched the wreckage. Nothing, nothing, nothing! No trace of her at all!

Not even a body…

Eventually he found himself sitting on a mass of wood again with his head in his hands. She was gone. She was _gone_.

He felt so very alone. He'd never been without his mistress. She'd taken him in as her apprentice when he was barely out of diapers. She'd been there since before he could remember, always telling him what to do, where to go, what to steal. He'd never been like this before. He'd never been alone.

He didn't have her anymore. Who was going to order him around now? Who would come up with all the brilliant plans? Who would shoot lightning at him when he messed up?

Who would guide him now?

Something red and tattered floated up against his perch. He picked it up. It was none other than his cloak, the one he had thrown off before fighting those accursed brothers. He held it against his face, trying to give his skin a reprieve from the burning water vapors all around him. The water that was soaked into the fabric was just barely cooler than his surroundings.

He and his raft slowly floated away from the scene of the crash.

Night had fallen when he awoke from a fatigue-induced sleep. He had washed up onto shore. He climbed off of the debris, pulling his red cloak onto his shoulders, and looked around at where he had landed.

Oho Oasis.

He sighed. Of course he had to wash up here in the middle of nowhere.

Well, at least he didn't have to worry about Beanbean soldiers chasing him here.

He sat down in the sand, leaning on a palm tree. He watched a couple of red and blue Oho Jees walking about nearby as he tried to contemplate what he was supposed to do now.

"The sky is exploding today," an Oho Jee said, its voice distant and unintelligent.

"I am one starfish in the clouds," said another.

"Fish is the loneliest number," replied the first.

A third one strolled up. "Even when fish are gone I still eat."

Fawful blinked. Of course these idiots didn't make any sense, but for some reason this inane little exchange had clicked something in his mind. He stood up and walked back to the shore. He looked out to the ocean, then up at the sky.

"O great Cackletta!" he cried out to the heavens, "I am knowing what I must presently do now!"

He grinned, baring his teeth. "I will have the loyalty forever! Fawful will always be your toady! You may now be full of the deadly deceasedness, but I will be continuing to serve you despite your being gone and not around any more! I will continue to assemble the sandwich of your desires! I, Fawful, who is being your apprentice, will take the world and conquer it with evil and rage, all in your amazing name! I will be making you have pride!"

Birds awoke and flew off in terror and the island nearly shook with the force of Fawful's intensity as he cried out one last statement.

" _I HAVE FURY!_ "


	2. The chapter in which we are having the meeting of Kamek.

Fawful had no idea where to start. It all seemed so easy when Cackletta did it; just as soon as she realized she needed to do something, she had already come up with a plan. He had been sure he would be able to do the same—after all, he was a genius! If he could create inventions as great as his Headgear and his ship (granted, it had the overheat, but if he had had more time to prepare it would have worked…), then surely he could put together a workable plan!

But it wasn't that easy. How did one go about seizing power, anyway? He knew how to make weapons, he knew how to be sneaky, he knew everything about villainy except for that one vital bit that pulled it together—he just didn't know how to scheme.

How was he supposed to take over the world for Cackletta now?

His first attempt was Oho Oasis. It was remote and few people paid it any mind. It would make a good base of operations—certainly better than the Hooniversity, which was too easily accessible to their enemies, and much better than Joke's End, which was so cold that Fawful had feared his butt may freeze off. Oho Oasis was a little warmer than Fawful preferred, but it would do. The fact that it was full of stupid, impressionable little creatures that, when properly provoked, could prove dangerous to his enemies made it all the better.

He'd tried, at first, talking the Oho Jees into choosing him as a leader. He gave speeches that, in his mind, were perfectly eloquent and convincing, but they simply continued to amble around aimlessly, chattering incomprehensively, as though he wasn't even there. He then tried to convince them he was a vengeful god, but that met with similar response.

Either these things were remarkably dumb, or very smart. He preferred to think it was the former.

He then tried violence. He spent weeks recovering from the subsequent injuries.

What was he doing wrong? Sure, it was true that Cackletta had not been successful in her plans either, but she at least got much further than he did! Her defeat was, obviously, just because the Mario brothers got lucky. Nothing more. If not for that, she would have succeeded. Fawful's plans, however, were nowhere near being that good. If he could be defeated by pitiful Oho Jees, then how was he supposed to take over the world?

He decided that he ought to take a break, step back, and give it a little more thought.

While he was at it, it would probably be a good idea to built a new set of Headgear. Maybe superior weaponry would be the key to victory.

The Beanbean mainland was where he wanted to go, as he knew where to get all the materials he needed there. However, he feared that he would be captured by the authorities if he went. After all, even with a perfect disguise, his amazing genius would surely show through and allow them to recognize him. The Mushroom Kingdom, however, didn't know too much about him at all. As long as he avoided places like Princess Peach's castle and Mario's house where there were people who would recognize him, he wouldn't have any problem at all.

So he fashioned a raft out of palm trees and, after going to the seabed to recover some of the gadgets he had abandoned, he built a spare-part engine that would propel his raft to the Mushroom Kingdom within a reasonable amount of time. Thinking that he would be en route for less than a day, he didn't bother to pack any food.

The engine broke down fifty miles out. He had to survive on fish for a month before he arrived on Mushroomian shores. By that time he had decided that he had much hatred for fish.

But eventually he made it and, after stumbling around exhaustedly for a few miles, he found a small diner upon a desolate road. He entered.

He threw he door open and screamed, "I am demanding water and foods that are not being fishlike in any way!"

The denizens of the diner all looked at the strange newcomer for a moment, then returned to their business. A short toad waitress led him to a table and handed him a menu. She left, and returned shortly with a glass of water.

"What would you like to order?" she asked with false friendliness.

"I am ordering food, you idiot of stupidity!" Fawful snapped.

"What _kind_ of food?"

Fawful paused, blinked his eyes under his cracked swirly glasses, and finally noticed the menu in his hands. "Oh." He opened it. "I am wanting the burger of cheese."

"Cheeseburger, you mean? Want fries, too?"

"I say to you yes."

She took the menu back from him and retreated to the kitchen.

Fawful rested his head on a hand, staring forward absently as he waited for his food. Someone sitting in the booth behind him shifted.

"I just came back from the Beanbean kingdom, you know," said a voice behind him.

"What is being about it?"

The person got up and sat himself down in the seat in front of him. He was a bespectacled Magikoopa in a blue robe with a pointy blue hat. Fawful recognized him but couldn't remember his name.

"Nothing," Said the Magikoopa, "Good to see you still alive. Where's the old hag?"

Fawful frowned. "If you are speaking of the Queen who is Bean, she is in Beanbean kingdom. I am not knowing of any other hag who possessed oldness."

"I meant your master."

"Fawful's mistress, though she had oldness, was not any kind of hag!" Fawful hissed.

The Magikoopa adjusted his glasses. "Where is she?"

Fawful looked away. He found himself speechless again.

"Dead?" asked the Magikoopa.

"I have not being able to find her," Fawful said, quiet. "The castle had explosion. I searched like the anteater searches for ants, but…"

"Bowser's returned to the Mushroom Kingdom," the Magikoopa told him, "There's no trace of Cackletta on him. Not much chance she's anywhere but the big rocking chair in the sky."

Fawful bit down on his lip. He'd known she was dead already, but hearing it confirmed just re-opened his still-healing wounds.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked the Magikoopa.

"I will always have servitude to the great Cackletta," Fawful said.

"That's too bad," the Magikoopa leaned forward. "See, the Koopa troop is running a little membership drive. We could really use someone with your experience."

"Foolish creature in a stupid pointy hat! Fawful is not being a Koopa," Fawful laughed.

"That isn't the point," the Magikoopa said with a frown. "Half of the Koopa troop is Goombas anyway. It's really more a name than a job requirement."

"Well I am still not wanting to be with the Koopas who look like turtles who are ugly and who are being ruled over by the Bowser who I hate!" Fawful crossed his arms.

The Magikoopa blinked. "Ugly turtles?"

"Yes. You are all looking like hideous reptilian shelled things."

The Magikoopa rolled his eyes. "Right… okay… So I assume you've already got your next world-domination campaign planned, then?"

"Er… that is to be saying…," Fawful looked around, "Hey! Is that being a coin on the floor which is down there?"

The Magikoopa wouldn't be distracted. "Well?"

Fawful groaned. "Not of such, but… you knowing… I will have inspiration soonly, and then you will all be bowing at my amazing heels!"

"Oh, of course," the Magikoopa snickered.

Fawful growled. "Of course yes! You will be seeing!"

"I don't doubt it," he certainly sounded like he doubted it.

The waitress came back and placed a plate on the table in front of Fawful containing a cheeseburger and fries. She then quickly walked away.

"By the way," said the Magikoopa, "How are you paying for that?"

Fawful, who had begun digging into the food the moment it was laid before him, took a moment to process what had been said. His eyes widened, and he started rummaging through his pockets. He found a few Beanbean pennies, but nothing more. He swallowed hard.

"I am not seeing a problem."

"Oh yeah?"

Fawful nodded, then proceeded to scarf down the rest of his food. Once his plate was empty, he chugged the rest of his water and dashed out the door with all speed. The rest of the diner barely noticed. Whoever did notice barely cared.

The Magikoopa got up, produced a broom from thin air, and flew out of the diner.

He caught up to the little Beanbean, who was running for his life.

"Are they having the pursuit!" Fawful asked him, not looking back to see for himself.

"Yes." It was a lie.

"They are not having the catching of me!" Fawful sped up.

"Need a ride?"

Fawful looked at how easily the Magikoopa's broom kept up with his tired legs. He decided, eh, what the hecking. He nodded and jumped onto the broom. They zipped off into the sky, and Fawful laughed and pointed at the diner.

"Ha! Ha! And Ha once again, fink-rats! Brilliant nasties such as me are not having to pay for sustinence! Snack on my dust as I run from you who are wanting to catch me but will not!"

The broom jerked. "Hey, keep it down back there," said the Magikoopa. "I've gotta concentrate."

"Fawful has apology."

They flew a ways, until finally they stopped at the outskirts of Rose town. Fawful hopped off the broom and onto the grass.

"I am being grateful for the assistance of you," said Fawful, "But do not have the thinking that I am owing you anything, because I am not having the owing of anything to any fink-rats."

The Magikoopa shrugged.

"By the waying," Fawful pushed up his glasses. "What is your name being? I will have insanity if I do not know as I am having the name on the tip of the thing which is my tongue but I am not having the rememberance of it."

"Kamek," The Magikoopa said.

"Ah, yes," Fawful grinned, "The nanny of the Bowser."

Kamek frowned. "I wasn't a _nanny_! I was, and still am, his _advisor!_ "

Fawful laughed. "You are having the being of a nanny!"

Kamek huffed. "Shut up."

Fawful continued to chuckle. "Where is at your apron, miss nanny who is a man but is a nanny like woman?"

Kamek shook his head. "I'm leaving. I've got important business to attend to, after all, since I _am_ Bowser's _ad-vis-or!_ "

Kamek flew off. Fawful called after him.

"Yes! Go changing the dirty diapers of the whiny baby Bowser who wears diapers!"

" _Shut up!_ " Kamek called back before disappearing into some clouds.

Fawful snickered. He may not be good at scheming, but at least he was never his mistress's nanny.

And with that thought, he turned on his heel and marched into Rose town.


	3. The chapter in where Kamek tries to have the persuading of Fawful

The people of Rose town were pitifully oblivious to the threat that had moved into their neighborhood. He took up residence in the inn using a fake name, doing chores here and there for the owners to earn his keep. He hated actually having to do legitimate work, but he had to do it. After all, he had to prepare. And he couldn't very well do that if he kept acting like a crook—they'd eventually call Mario if he did, and Fawful wasn't ready for him yet.

The very thought of Mario and his stupid sibling put the fog of rage in Fawful's eyes. He didn't know what he'd do if he caught sight of those red and green fink-rats, but he knew it would be stupid, as he wasn't nearly ready to face them again. He needed new Headgear, new weapons, a ship that didn't overheat, and more. Anything and everything he could do to make himself invincible against those brothers, he had to do.

So when he was done with his chores at the inn he would work at the store, stocking shelves for a few coins a day. He developed a habit of "accidentally" dropping and breaking things. Then those broken things would "mysteriously" disappear from the dumpster that night. And most of those things "coincidentally" happened to be mechanical in nature.

He had to get raw materials _somehow_. It would certainly be too suspicious if he _bought_ everything. After all, as far as the denizens of Rose town knew, he was just a kid from the Beanbean kingdom trying to raise money to attend the Hooniversity.

… or to take it over, furururu…

And what would a student-to-be need with gobs of steel, aluminum, and copper wire? And why would he be buying things instead of saving up?

The shop owner suspected nothing. He just assumed Fawful was a well-intentioned but clumsy idiot, and simply put up with him with silent irritation.

Fawful hated this place. He hated the people here. He hated everything he had to do to stay here inconspicuously. He hated that stupid kid with the action figures. He longed for the day when he could just blow it all up.

After a while, he started to get the feeling he was being watched. Every once in a while he'd turn and see a blur of blue moving in the distance, or hear a whoosh that sounded suspiciously like a flying broom, or see a broom-and-rider-shaped dot circling overhead.

Fawful wondered why Kamek was shadowing him.

But he tried to ignore the nanny-like Kamek. Why would someone as great as Fawful worry about an insignificant little wizard like Kamek, anyway? Fawful was much more powerful than that stupid Koopa and his floppy hat.

Or at least, he would be once his new Headgear was complete. And he was making much progress on that front.

He couldn't work on the Headgear in town, as people would see him and question what he was doing and where he got those parts. So he'd sneak out to the forest at nights and on weekends and he'd work, hiding his things in a well-hidden little alcove in some rocks, obscured by bushes and tall grasses. He would be finished with his Headgear soon enough, and then he could leave this place. He figured he'd move on to Moleville. The mines there seemed like a valuable enough source of materials for larger, more complicated machines. Perhaps he could even make use of all of the mine carts and fireworks lying around there.

He was thinking on all of this as he tinkered with his Headgear's propulsion systems. He was closing the casing on the left rocket when he heard footsteps.

"Who is it being there?" Fawful asked, hiding his machinery behind a bush.

"It's me," Said Kamek as he stepped out from behind a few trees. "I was just wondering how your plans were coming along."

Fawful frowned. "You should be knowing, you have had the following of Fawful for many weeks."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kamek said, faking innocence.

"Do not have the pretending of not knowing!" Fawful stomped his foot, "I have been seeing you!"

"Ah. I think I remember now."

"I am assuming that your master the smelly Bowser is wanting you to destroy me, and that is why you are having the trailing of me," Fawful hissed, trying to seem intimidating.

"No, but he probably would want me to," Kamek shrugged. "But you know, he probably wouldn't recognize you if you were to ditch that red cape of yours. Looks like you got a tan since last he saw you."

Fawful looked at his hand. He hadn't even noticed that his skin had turned a darker shade of green. Must have been from all that time in the sun on Oho Oasis.

"So why have you been watching me like the hawk watches some food which he is wanting to eat?"

"I was just wanting to know if you considered my offer," Kamek said, sitting on a log and stretching out, his legs tired from walking through the confusing trails of the forest. "To join the Koopa troop. We really are desperate to get a technical genius like you."

Fawful smiled. "I am guessing something has had the breaking-down and you are needing a mechanic?"

The Koopa Cruiser had broken down again, and progress on the new castle's security and mobility systems had halted due to an argument between Bowser and his son Iggy regarding the proper weekly allowance for a young inventor. Kamek shook his head. "Of course not. It's just that any respectable evil army needs a mad scientist."

"I still do not have interest."

"Why not?"

"Because Fawful is needing to conquer the world for the great Cackletta!" Fawful said.

"And the Koopa clan plans on taking over the world, too. Wouldn't it be easier if you just helped us do it?"

"But then I would not be the one having domination of the world, it would be the ugly Bowser," Fawful said, matter-of-fact, "And you must have remembering that I hate him."

"But you would've had a hand in it, and you'd be part of the ruling army."

"But I would be just a tiny little henchman who is tiny."

"How is that any different from when you served under Cackletta?" Kamek smiled slyly, sure that he had made a valid point.

"It is being simple enough that even you may have understanding!" Fawful cried, "I was _the_ toady, see? The great Cackletta only had chosen one apprentice, and it is I who she had the choosing! It is having much difference from being just _a_ toady among many others!"

"And so I'm choosing you. I don't usually recruit people myself, you know."

"That is not meaning anything."

"Why not?"

"Because you are not being Cackletta."

Fawful sat back down on the ground, paused, and started picking at the grass.

He missed Cackletta. How dare this stupid Koopa try to replace her.

Kamek stood up. "Just think about it. Don't even think about the part about being a henchman, too. I mean, we've got near-unlimited resources. We could get you any materials you could want. Think about that."

Kamek walked off without another word.

Fawful reached over and pulled his Headgear from the foliage. He picked at it, hoping to finish the rockets, but realized soon that he still didn't have any means to power it.

"Unlimited resources…," He mumbled to himself before putting his machinery back in its hiding spot and returning to town.


	4. The chapter in which the shadow thief commits thievery.

He did what he could without any power source, and once his headgear was near-complete he decided to move on to Moleville. His initial plan was to destroy the town before leaving, but since he didn't have anything to do that with he settled for setting the Inn on fire. The fire was extinguished soon enough, and no one suspected Fawful of having been the arsonist.

He would finish the job later.

Moleville was even more repugnant than Rose town. At least the mushroom-people of Rose town didn't stink of mole fur like these people did!

Was the whole Mushroom kingdom this horrible? He felt homesick. He missed the good old days, looting and pillaging in the Beanbean kingdom...

With Cackletta…

He tried to put it out of his mind as he explored the abandoned sections of the mine. The mine was currently a coal mine, and that would be good enough as an energy source (although it wasn't nearly as efficient as he'd hoped) but he'd heard that the mine had started out with iron. There was bound to be some of it left somewhere, and he was going to find it.

He'd gotten his Headgear operational, though it ran out of coal fuel quickly and started to smoke after a while. It would do for now. He had some other projects going on, such as his bean finder. His machines back in the old days had been powered by a certain type of bean. It was hard to find in the Mushroom kingdom, but he had stumbled across one in the dirt and was sure there were more underground. So he was working on this machine that detected beans, like a metal detector detects metal.

It wasn't working.

So he walked along the dark corridors of the mine, his headgear lighting the way for him. It felt good to be wearing the Headgear again. His head had felt so naked without it.

He looked over the stone walls, looking for any trace of what might be an iron ore hidden in the stone. He shot a blast at the wall, knocking a hole in it.

No iron. Just useless rock.

He frowned, and turned back. Maybe one of the other areas would have better luck.

He'd set up camp in the mine, since he was sick of doing chores and didn't want to continue doing them to stay at the inn. He'd leave occasionally to buy food with the money he saved up in Rose town, but for the most part he stayed holed away in these caves. It made his living in this town much more bearable, since he was avoiding as much contact as possible with those smelly moles.

As he neared his campsite, he heard shuffling and footsteps.

He frowned. It better not be Kamek again…!

He dashed into his camp and found, to his surprise, a shifty-looking bean digging through his stuff.

"Hey!" Fawful yelled, "What is it that you are doing with the things which are mine!"

The shifty bean jolted, looked back at Fawful, and made a run for it, holding in his little green hands Fawful's bag of money. Fawful activated his rockets and gave chase.

"I am telling you to be giving back that money which I have had to do miserable work to have in my possession!"

It didn't take much time for Fawful to catch up with the thief and to tackle him. Fawful held the sneaky bean down.

"I have the catching of you! Now return to me the stuff which you have had stealing!" Fawful demanded.

"Let me go!" The thief struggled, "Else you're gonna regret it! I'm Popple the shadow thief, see? Most feared bandit around!"

"It is you that will have regret, fink-rat!" Fawful's headgear made a humming sound, indicating it was getting ready to strike.

Popple struggled, trying to reach into a bag he had been carrying but couldn't reach. He groaned. "Alright, I'll make you a deal. You give me half your gold and I'll let you go!"

Fawful laughed. "I am not thinking that you have the position to be doing bargaining!" The mouth-like apparatus on the top of Fawful's Headgear grinned and began to glow. "If you are not giving the moneys back to Fawful within ten of the seconds, you will have pain raining upon you like the cloud rains upon a cake!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Popple pointed behind Fawful. "Look over there! It's Cackletta!"

Fawful's eyes went wide. "Cackletta?" He looked over.

Popple shoved Fawful off of him and began to run. Fawful screamed.

"I am not having amusement! How dare you have tricking of me!" Fawful's rockets fired and he shot off after Popple.

"You're not catchin' me!" Popple yelled out, "No one catches me, see!"

Popple pulled a few bombs out from his bag and threw them at Fawful. They exploded upon contact with the ground and flung Fawful into a wall. There was a sickening cracking noise as his Headgear smashed into the wall before the rest of him did.

Everything went black.

Fawful was aware of having a horrible headache before he actually woke up. When he opened his eyes he saw shards of metal and glass everywhere. He put a hand up to his head and pulled his Headgear off. It was in pieces. It didn't even look repairable—he'd have to start all over again.

" _I HAVE FURY!_ " He screamed before jumping back onto his feet and dashing out of the cave.

He emerged into the sunlight and, squinting his eyes in the bright light, he looked around, frantically trying to locate the thief Popple.

"Where are you being!" He screamed, "You fink-rat of thievery! You are being aware that those moneys are my belongings and you are a fool of stupidity to take them!"

Popple was nowhere to be found. Fawful ran around the town, searching for the thief. He scoured the area until the sun went down, but found nothing. Fawful had been unconscious too long; Popple was long gone.

Fawful grumbled to himself as he started to walk back to the cave. This was just _great_. Now he was out of money, and he didn't have much food left. If he wanted to continue eating, he would need to get a job again. Groan. Not to mention his Headgear was in pieces. Ohh, if he ever got his hands on that self-proclaimed shadow thief…!

Fawful sighed as he stood at the mouth of the cave. Is this what he had come to? Once a great villain and henchman to the Beanbean kingdom's greatest witch, now he was getting beat up by Oho Jees, living in a cave and getting robbed by two-bit thieves. This was just so wrong.

"Cackletta…," he mumbled, "Have forgiving of me. I am being lost and without direction now that you have death."

He sniffled, leaning against the stone wall for support. Now that his rage was fading away his body started to remind him that he had just been in an explosion and he was very, very sore. "When you were still being here," he continued quietly, "I had much confusion. I knew I was just a toady who did working only for others. I did not have knowledge what I might do if I were alone. Now I am knowing what I do alone," he clenched his fists. "I fail."

He stood there for a while, staring in the ground in shame as though Cackletta were watching and shaking her head at him.

But she wasn't there. She wasn't unhappy with him. She wasn't ashamed of him. She wasn't anything at all anymore.

Eventually a familiar voice spoke up.

"How's the world domination going?"

Fawful looked up and saw Kamek floating above him, sitting on his little broom.

Fawful frowned and looked away miserably.

Kamek grinned.


	5. The chapter in which Fawful dislikes his new job.

_The young Fawful took a few tentative steps forward, looking around nervously. He couldn't find his mistress anywhere. He'd never been to Chucklehuck woods before and he was finding that he really didn't like it. Without his mistress there to protect him the whole place just seemed really, really spooky. The grins on those stupid Chuckola fruits creeped him out, and there were monsters everywhere. He probably could kill the monsters on his own, but he was afraid to do so without Cackletta watching to make sure he didn't get hurt._

_"Cackletta?" He called out._

_Nothing. He whimpered._

_He sat down in the grass. Maybe she was looking for him and all his moving around was making it impossible for her to find him._

_He felt like a lost child in a shopping mall. Except that when a child is lost in a mall, security can page the parents. How was he supposed to page Cackletta in a dark, dank forest?_

_He sniffled. Don't cry, Fawful. Cackletta won't be pleased if she finds you crying._

_He heard some bushes shuffling. He froze. What could that be?_

_"Fawful, where have you gotten to this time?" came Cackletta's voice._

_Cackletta stepped out of the bushes, irritatedly picking sand-spurs off of her clothes. Fawful ran up and hugged her. "O great Cackletta! I am sorry I had wandering off! I had such lostness without you!"_

_"Fawful?"_

_"Yes, O great Cackletta?"_

_"Get off of me."_

_Fawful let go, grinning with embarrassment. "I have apology. It is just that I am having much gladness to be seeing you."_

_Cackletta sighed. "Yes, yes, I'm glad to see you too. Now let's get back to work."_

_…_

Fawful opened his eyes to find he was just dreaming of days long gone. He sighed and sat up, looking around.

He was sitting in a bunk in the Koopa Troop barracks.

What was he doing here? What would Cackletta say if she knew he had joined Bowser?

Fawful put his glasses on. No, best not to think that way. He was doing this for her. It was the only way he could get the equipment he needed. He would stay long enough to fulfill his needs, and then he'd leave. That's all.

The door opened, and Kamek entered.

"Nice of you to finally wake up," Kamek said, "After today you have to get up at seven like everyone else."

Fawful looked around for a clock and didn't find one. "What is the time being?"

"It's noon."

"I had exhaustion."

"Yes, I figured as much," Kamek tossed some clothes at him. "Here, you can wear some of my old robes. Can't have you wearing that red cloak, else everyone'll recognize you."

Fawful caught the clothes and looked at them critically. "These clothes are having a funny smell."

Kamek frowned. "It's from my spell components! I'm sure Cackletta didn't exactly smell like roses, either."

"I am not remembering Cackletta ever possessing a bad smell, particularly from components of spells." Fawful said, taking off his cloak and replacing it with the white-and-red cloak. "I am feeling stupid in these clothes that look weird."

"Deal with it. Now come on, you've got work to do," Fawful groaned and climbed out of bed, and Kamek sniffed himself furtively while Fawful wasn't looking. Maybe he _did_ smell…

"What am I doing?" asked Fawful as Kamek led him down the hall.

"The Koopa cruiser needs repairs. I think you can handle that, right?"

Fawful nodded, frowning. "The cruiser of the Koopa is having much badness. It is poorly designed like the platypus."

Kamek furrowed his brow. "It's our finest machine."

"It is having inferiority," The two emerged into the cruiser's hangar. Fawful pointed to where some Koopa soldiers were messing with the engine. "You would have being better off if I were making a new one."

"There's nothing wrong with the one we have now," Kamek persisted.

"Is it not having need of repairs?"

"Only because it keeps getting shot down by people like you!"

Fawful laughed. "I did not even have effort! It was like swatting a small fly which is easily struck down!"

Kamek shook his head. "Look, we haven't got the budget for replacing anything. We just want you to fix this."

Fawful was displeased. "I am remembering you saying that I would have the resources of unlimitedness."

"Yes, about that," Kamek shrugged, "That was sort of an… exaggeration. You'll have very _limited_ resources until you get promoted."

Fawful glared at Kamek. "I have frustration."

"It's not like we're not paying you," Kamek defended, "You can always buy supplies with your salary."

Fawful sighed, but conceded. "O of the 'kay. But the salary of Fawful had better be great and big as I am amazing and deserve many moneys," Fawful looked over at the Koopa Cruiser again, "And I am not having the repair of the cruiser more than once."

"Of course."

Fawful stomped off toward the vehicle purposefully, waving his arms at the Koopas working on it. " _Hey!_ Fink-rats! Get your ugly butts which are shelled away from there, as I am readying myself to have working!"

The Koopas all looked at Fawful funny. Kamek nodded at the Koopas, and they complied and moved away from the ship. Fawful rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

"I am needing a wrench!" He proclaimed.

Kamek handed him one. "By the way. We've got to figure out a name for you. Can't let anyone know who you really are, you know."

"When I was habitating in the town of Rose and the ville of Mole, I was being called Gera," Fawful said, unscrewing a bolt.

"Good enough."

"If I am not being allowed to build a ship that is new," Fawful said, "Am I having permission to build an _engine_ that is new and is not horrible?"

Kamek thought for a moment. "Hold on." He stepped aside and called over some important-looking Koopas. They discussed for a moment, and Kamek returned to Fawful. "Can you do it with less than five thousand coins?"

Fawful chuckled. "I have made many things that were having much more greatness for much less of the moneys."

"Then get to it."

Fawful stepped away from the ship and started shouting out orders to the Koopas to retrieve this or that, to buy some sort of part, or do some other work. Again, the Koopas looked at him funny and hesitated until Kamek nodded and gave them the okay. Fawful looked at Kamek with death in his eyes. "Why are they only having the taking of orders from the one who is me _after_ you are having the nodding of your stupid head?"

Kamek shrugged.

Fawful kicked a random scrap of metal. "I am not having enjoyment! This is not being the job you had saying it was!"

"Be patient," Kamek assured him, "Once you prove yourself you'll be able to do whatever you want. You'll see."

"I had _better_ have seeing."

"Trust me."

Kamek then turned and left, a smug smile on his face.

Fawful watched him leave, then went to work pulling any salvageable parts he could find out of the old engine.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being used.

He thought about how he used to work for Cackletta. She always worked him so hard, but she never lied to him about what she wanted him to do. When she said, "Build anything you want, as long as it's deadly," she didn't mean, "Repair an inferior machine."

She was always honest with him. She never used him like this.

But she was gone now. She wasn't just going to step out from behind the bushes again.

She wasn't coming back. And he had to get used to the fact that no one else in this world was as good a master as she.


	6. The chapter in which the engine is having completion.

It had taken weeks of hard work, but the engine was done. Of course, now that the hard work was done, it _should_ be easy to finish up… but the crane was broken and he couldn't find a single person willing to help him heft the heavy thing into the ship.

Stupid Koopas. Stupid, lazy, not-order-taking Koopas.

He hated this place. He'd take smelly Moleville any day over this.

But the prospect of promotion, the allure of having unlimited access to whatever technology he wanted… he just couldn't seem to turn away.

Maybe he had sold his soul to the Koopa troop.

But he kept telling himself it would be worth it in the end… he'd make her proud, he'd make all her dreams come true…

… if only he could find someone to help him with this stupid engine!

He threw open the door to Kamek's office.

"Kamek!"

Kamek was leisurely reading a book, leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk. He flipped a page. "Yes? Finished with that engine yet?"

"I would be having completion," Fawful said, "Except your toadies are being ignoring of my orders! Have following of me!"

"What for?" Kamek asked, taking his feet off the desk and sitting up.

"Just be following!" Fawful stormed off.

Kamek got up and followed the little bean. They arrived in the hangar, where the massive new engine was sitting on a dolly. Fawful pointed to it. "I demand that you are using your magic to have lifting that into the ship!"

"How heavy is that?" Kamek groaned.

"Two."

"Two what?"

"Tons, stupid."

Kamek groaned. "What makes you think I can lift that, even with magic?"

"I was being under the impressions that you were having greatness as the best Magikoopa," Fawful said slyly.

"I am," Kamek frowned, "But magic isn't perfect."

"You knowing," Fawful said, rocking on his heels, "I have not actually had seeing you casting magic. I have wondering if maybe you are having fraudulency."

Kamek narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "What do you mean by that?"

"I am of the thought that maybe the greatest Magikoopa is having greatness in naming only?"

"I _am_ the best, I assure you!" Kamek stomped his foot. He wasn't the sort that enjoyed having his skill questioned.

"Then you should be having none of the trouble lifting. After the all, matter under mind, yes?" Said Fawful.

Kamek sighed. He couldn't get out of this one without looking like a MagiWeenie. He materialized his wand out of thin air. "Step back. I've got to focus."

Fawful stepped back obediently, smiling with accomplishment.

Kamek hesitated for a moment, doing some stretches that even the magically-inept Fawful knew were pointless before finally he pointed his wand at the engine and, moving the wand in a circular motion, he began to chant.

Little triangles, squares, and circles floated about the air as he worked his magic, but nothing seemed to be happening. He tried harder. He furrowed his brow in intense concentration, and the engine lifted an inch or two over the ground. It stayed like that for a while, and then Kamek sped up his wand-spinning and chanted louder. The engine lifted higher.

The little magical shapes floating about were all over the place now. Fawful struggled, unsuccessfully, to avoid contact with them. He hated those things. They tingled in a weird way which, when you let too many touch you, hurt like crazy.

Kamek was practically screaming his chants by the time he got the engine into the ship. He released it and it fell into place with a CLUNK, and he fell over. Fawful stood over him.

"I hate you," said Kamek between gasps for air.

Fawful smiled. "I have gratitude! I will be remembering this for the next time I am needing heavy lifting to be done!"

Kamek groaned. "I _really_ hate you."

Fawful laughed cruelly and climbed into the engine compartment to bolt everything down and connect the engine to everything else in the ship.

It was a while before Kamek's head appeared over the compartment hatch, looking at Fawful as he worked in the oil-covered darkness.

"And the budget?" He asked, still sounding exhausted.

"On the table there is being a receipt," Fawful said, not bothering to look up.

Kamek moved out of view, then came back a moment later. "Impressive."

"When Cackletta was having me build things, we were not having the large budgets," Fawful explained, wiping some oil from his glasses. "I have resourcefulness."

Kamek disappeared for another moment, then came back. "You know, I had to give a budget report yesterday. I told them you had used all of the money we gave you."

Fawful had his head under the engine, looking for the next bolt. "Yes?"

"Yes."

Fawful paused, thought about it, and took his head out from under the engine. He looked up at Kamek. "So you are meaning… if I was taking the moneys for me, no one would have noticing?"

"Well, as long as you destroy that receipt," Kamek shrugged.

"And if I am to be using those moneys to, say, re-rebuild the headgear that I am so desperately wanting, it is to be okay?"

"As long as no one notices where the money came from."

Fawful nodded, understanding.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all…


	7. In which the Princess is having capture.

Fawful was sitting at a control console on the Koopa cruiser, off to the side and out of sight as Kamek went on and on to the various high-ranking Koopas—Bowser included—about how great this new engine was and how they'll be able to spread doom and destruction so much faster and with so little fuel and…

… and Fawful noticed that, though all the credit was being given to "our great new mechanic, Gera," the way he talked made it sound like Kamek was the one who did all the work. After all, he claimed, he's the one who found 'Gera,' he's the one who gave the project the OK, he's…

Fawful wanted to scream.

Of course, he wasn't allowed to make a peep. "Your speech is too conspicuous," Kamek had told him, "And your voice is too recognizable. Stay out of the way and keep quiet," and Kamek had shoved a stupid-looking hat on his head ("to make it less noticeable how Beanish you look.") and sat him down at this little console in the shadows.

Fawful sighed, tapping his little green fingers on the console as he waited for Kamek to stop speaking.

He wasn't listening to what Kamek had said next, but there were some Ooohs and Ahhhs from the audience, followed by applause. Kamek bowed, beaming, and pointed to Fawful. "Start the engine, Mister Gera!"

Fawful attempted to speak in a voice much deeper than his own. "O of Kay!" He ended up sounding like a kid with a sore throat. Either way, no one recognized him.

He excitedly flicked switches and turned knobs. All the attention was on him, now! He hit a big red button with a flourish, and the ship rumbled, roared, and took off into the wide blue sky with such speed as to knock over a few of the less-balanced passengers. Kamek included.

Everyone crowded around the windows, watching the landscape go by at speeds no one had dreamed the cruiser could reach. There were a lot of exhilarated, adrenaline-rushed cheers as Fawful maneuvered the ship from side to side, up and down and— maybe he was being a showoff now—in a graceful loop so quickly that centrifugal forces took the stead of gravity and kept everyone firmly on the floor as the ship went momentarily upside-down.

As he righted the ship in a normal flying position, he looked back at Kamek. The pompous Magikoopa was still on the ground, looking like he was suffering from a bad case of motion sickness. Fawful chuckled and rocked the ship a little more. Kamek groaned.

After Fawful had stopped "flying like a maniac" (as Kamek would put it), Kamek pulled himself to his feet, tried to recollect himself, and spoke to the crowd again.

"Is it not magnificent? It's almost like a new ship! Let's give our brilliant inventor a round of applause!"

Everyone clapped and cheered again. Fawful put the ship on auto pilot and stood, taking a bow while holding the hat tightly onto his head.

Bowser stepped forward, and let loose his trademarked guffaw. "Gwa har har har! This is great!" He really didn't seem to be addressing Fawful, nor anyone else in particular. "With this, we'll be able to kidnap the Princess before anyone even realizes we're in their airspace!" He laughed again. "Gwa har har! And while they're all sittin' there scratchin' their heads, I'll be taking over the kingdom!"

A koopa in the back of the crowd called out, "Hey! Why don't we do that right now?"

Bowser let show a fanged grin, and laughed yet again. He was a villain, after all, and Fawful knew by experience that laughing was just what bad guys _do_. "Of course! Set course for Peach's castle, pilot guy!"

Fawful would have been more annoyed by the fact that Bowser hadn't bothered to remember his 'name', but he was too caught up in the moment. This was exciting! He was up to no good again, just like old times! He grinned madly as he set the ship to full throttle and steered the ship through cloudbanks and blue sky. This was how it was supposed to be! Or, that is to say, it was almost how it was supposed to be. Really, the only thing that would make this moment better is if it were Cackletta standing there instead of Bowser, but Fawful took what he could. Maybe he wasn't working for the most favorable villain in the world, but at least he was getting to experience the exhilaration of flying again! He hadn't felt like this since—since he and Cackletta had hijacked Bowser's flying castle!

As they approached Peach's castle he slowed the ship down, and Kamek furtively told him which tower to stop at. Fawful brought the ship to a halt by the tower housing Peach's bedroom and let the ship hover there as Bowser leapt off the deck and onto the parapet along the roof. Fawful watched out the window from the bridge as Bowser swung himself off the roof and through the window, messily shattering glass in the process.

"He's done this a lot," Kamek noted to Fawful as they watched. "He's really getting pretty good at it."

"Yes," Fawful said, speaking normally thanks to the fact that everyone else had gone out to the deck to watch Bowser, "He is having great skill in the _capturing_ of the Princess who is Peach. However, how good is he being at the _retaining_ of she?"

Kamek frowned.

They watched as Bowser tossed the Princess out the window and onto the ship. Bowser's cronies spared no time in tying the Princess up. Bowser quickly jumped back onto the ship, and let out a triumphant roar.

"I will be admitting," Fawful said with a smile, "I am having much excitement."

"That's the spirit," Said Kamek as everyone began to file back into the bridge.

"Take us home, little guy!" Bowser cheered, elated at his latest capture.

'Pilot guy' had been mildly annoying, but 'little guy' was worse. Fawful paused, shaking his head to himself since he knew the Koopa King wasn't even looking at him, and started to fly back. Okay, Bowser was irritating. But, you know, this was still great, he assured himself. He was making the world a worse place, like he had wanted to. He was gaining experience and watching a professional villain do his work. This was all very good! He could ignore Bowser's idiocy for now.

He smiled to himself as he thought about the progress he had made.

Oh, Cackletta would so _proud!_


	8. The chapter in which Mario is having the escape and Fawful is having an idea.

Fawful was borrowing Kamek's office as a workshop, since it was pretty big and there weren't any stupid Koopas around to go "Hey, what's that? Is that breakable? What happens when I throw this across the room?"

Kamek, of course, hated this arrangement. Tough cookies to him, then.

So Fawful was working on his Headgear in Kamek's office. He was nearly done. He had had weeks of relative quiet to work in; Kamek's toadies had spread some false rumors that sent Mario on some wild goose chases to keep him busy until the Bowser and his armies were ready to fight. Something about the Princess being in another castle, or something like that. In any case, with the Koopa soldiers off either preparing or holding Mario off and Kamek and his toadies out spreading misinformation, he had had no distractions to keep him from working. It was amazing how quickly he could work when he had the proper equipment.

He had been deeply absorbed in his work, so he didn't notice the noise outside the castle. In fact, he didn't even hear he ruckus as it moved into the castle until it was practically at the door.

He frowned, grumbling about the interruption. He threw open the door, to see Kamek rushing over.

"Is your Headgear ready?" he asked.

"Almost," Fawful said, "The rockets are having completion and the containment unit is being done, but the blasters are having—"

"So you can't fight with it?" Kamek interrupted.

"Not the yet, but—"

Kamek let out a harsh sigh, and pushed Fawful back into the room, closing the door in his face. "Stay in there, then! Without your weapons you're barely any better than a Goomba!"

Fawful growled, insulted, and tried to open the door. Kamek had locked it. "I am demanding that you have letting me out!"

"You're going to get yourself killed if I do!"

Fawful pounded on the door. "Mario is having arrival, isn't he! Have releasing of me!"

"The Koopa troop needs a mechanic like you! You're no good to us dead!" Kamek argued.

"But I am needing the avenging!" Fawful screamed, trying desperately to get the door open. "Mario is needing to receive death just as Cackletta did from he!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Kamek replied, "You're useless without your weapons and you know it! Now just stay here and shut up!"

Fawful growled again. Oh, he'd shut up alright…!

Fawful rushed over to his machinery and started working again, putting parts together as fast as he could. He'd shut up, oh yes, up until the point where he blew the door open and blasted that stupid plumber into little bitty bits of dust!

There was noise outside the door, and he could see flashes of light coming from under the door. Mario was right out there, fighting Kamek…

He could hear that annoying boing, boing of Mario's jumps. He could hear Kamek casting spell after spell. He could hear Mario charging up his Firebrand…

But what Fawful didn't hear was Luigi. The green one wasn't there! Mario would be so much easier to defeat without his stupid sibling helping him!

Fawful worked harder.

Mario had long since moved on elsewhere in the castle by the time Fawful finished. He put the Headgear on and blasted the door into splinters, and floated out of the room. He found Kamek lying face-down on the floor.

He hovered over Kamek.

"Hey!" he said, "Hey, be waking up!"

Kamek mumbled a little. He wasn't unconscious, he was just severely beaten.

"You are being awake?" Fawful asked.

"Uhn… yeah."

Fawful gave Kamek a hard kick in the stomach. "That is what you are getting for having the locking up of Fawful!"

Fawful then flew down the hallway, looking for Mario. He flashed past hall after hall filled with squished Goombas, knocked-out Koopas and Firebranded Boos, but saw no Mario! He burst into Bowser's chamber. Surely the red one must still be—

He found Bowser being tended to by two of his sons. The Koopa king had had the lights knocked out of him.

"What is happened?" Fawful demanded.

"Hey, get outta here!" roared Roy.

"I am wanting to know where the Mario is gone!" said Fawful.

"He got away, you idiot!" yelled Ludwig, "Now go away so dad can rest!"

Fawful grimaced and turned away, dejected. The stupid plumber had escaped.

He started floating away.

"Urrghh," he heard Bowser moan, "Princess…"

"Don't worry, dad," said Ludwig, "You'll get her next time."

"Ugh…"

"Mario won't stand a chance," Roy assured him. "Next time for sure."

Fawful stopped, and blinked.

He had an idea.

He rushed down the halls again, a mad grin on his face. He had a great idea! To impress Bowser, to get promoted, to get more money and building materials!

"Hey!" Cried Kamek as Fawful passed, "Where're you going!"

Fawful stopped and turned to look at Kamek. "You are liking to know, yes?"

"That's why I asked," Kamek grunted as he got onto his feet, clutching his stomach painfully where Fawful had kicked him. "I'll ask again. Where in the world do you think you're going?"

"I am building the staircase that is leading to my greatness!" Fawful laughed, "I am preparing to have becoming the most high-ranking soldier in this army which is stupid but which I nevertheless want high rank in!"

"What are you talking about?" Kamek didn't look pleased.

"Tell your Bowser to make preparations! He will be wanting to give to me many heavy bags of gold when I return!" Fawful started flying away again. " _I am going to have re-kidnapping of the Princess!_ "

Fawful burst out of the castle and into the bright day.


	9. The chapter in which Fawful and Bowser are having disagreement.

It was bright and sunny as Mario and Princess Peach sat upon the roof of the castle. They were watching the clouds, enjoying the peace after a rather difficult battle between Mario and Bowser.

"I knew you'd come rescue me," Peach said, smiling. "You always do."

She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. Mario blushed and smiled timidly. She giggled at his reaction.

They hoped that this moment could last forever. Just the two of them and the tranquil blue sky…

A section of roof exploded beside them, as though blasted from below. Peach shrieked in surprise and Mario jumped to his feet, looking down.

Fawful rose up, hovering at eye level with Mario. The mouth-shaped blaster atop his Headgear glowed threateningly, and Fawful floated there with his red cloak blowing in the wind.

Fawful laughed.

"I have fury!" he proclaimed, adrenaline rushing through his little green body.

"You…!" Mario exclaimed, stepping in front of the Princess in order to protect her better.

"Yes! It is of being me, the great and nasty Fawful!" Fawful laughed again. "I am sure you were having much missingness of me!"

Mario started charging up his Firebrand. He wasn't much for words in situations like this.

Fawful saw Mario preparing his attack, and grinned. "Any attack you plan will be a wasting! You are not having defeat of me this day!"

Fawful shot a blast at Mario's feet, being careful not to hit the Princess. Bowser probably wouldn't want damaged goods, he figured. Mario dodged, but Fawful took the opportunity to shoot another blast at Mario while he was vulnerable and, while the plumber was still reeling, he landed a kick onto the side of Mario's head. Mario lost his balance and fell from the tower, unsuccessfully trying to shoot some fireballs up at Fawful as he went.

Fawful laughed again. "I will be coming back to have the finishing of you later!" Fawful called down, knowing that a mere fall wasn't enough to kill Mario, "As soon as I am receiving my own private army which I will be much deserving!"

Fawful turned to the Princess. She, upon seeing that Fawful's attentions were on her, took a feeble fighting stance. Fawful snickered, and his Headgear shot out a lasso which encircled the princess. Fawful flew a few circles around her, tangling her up in the rope, and then picked her up and flew off, laughing maniacally and dropping a few bombs down upon Mario as he went.

That was so much easier than he had expected!

He considered, for a moment, just dropping the Princess and finishing off Mario. But then he realized he was being hasty—Mario was easy to catch off guard, yes, but once he got fighting he would be hard to beat. No, he was better off taking the Princess to Bowser. Then he could use the reward he was sure he'd receive to make… Oh, what should he make? His mind flooded with ideas for all sorts of deadly devices. Perhaps an anti-gravity field to throw off his jumps? Or maybe some sort of big water bubble that would stick to his hand and prevent him from using his Firebrand? Or perhaps just a good old vaporizer? He giggled at the thought. Oh, Mario, you want to rescue the Princess now? Can't very well do that when you're—BZZAP!—Dead! Ha!

He carried a constant smile as he flew the Princess and himself back to Bowser's castle.

He arrived just as the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. He entered an open window leading into his room. Luckily for him no one else was in there. He set the Princess down and put on the robes that Kamek always made him wear, although he just threw them on on top of his cloak because, frankly, he was in too much of a hurry to get properly changed. He then took off his Headgear and replaced it with that stupid hat Kamek gave him, and then he took the Princess and dragged her by the ropes binding her down the hall.

He stopped in front of the huge red double-doors leading into Bowser's chambers. He looked over to Princess Peach, who was looking quite irritated at having been dragged along the hard floor. She was probably more accustomed to being kidnapped by people big enough to lift her off the ground. He frowned at her. "You will not be telling the Bowser who I am being, yes?" he said, "Otherwise, I may not be having the ability to prevent bad things from befalling upon you, if you catch my meaning."

She didn't say anything in reply, so Fawful just grinned and made a threatening throat-cutting motion with his hand. He then threw open the doors.

"I am having the re-capture of the Princess!" Fawful yelled excitedly.

The two inhabitants of the room, Bowser and Kamek, both looked at him.

"You actually did it!" cried Kamek, surprised.

Bowser seemed to still be reeling from his battle earlier that day, and looked to be off in his own little world of aching and migraines. "What now?"

"It's the mechanic, Gera," Kamek said to Bowser in a low tone that wouldn't irritate his master's headache any further. "He went out and got the Princess back."

"Yes," said Fawful, proudly walking toward the throne with the Princess in tow. "I am having her here, and I am presenting her to you so that you may see that I have captured her!"

"That's good," Bowser mumbled, perhaps not quite grasping what was going in. "Uhn… why was a mechanic out capturin' the Princess?"

"That is not mattering!" Fawful insisted. "Look. The Princess is being here, you are seeing?"

Bowser finally started to snap out of it. "Oh—yeah! Good job, little guy!"

Bowser stood and picked the Princess up.

Fawful frowned. "Gera."

"What?" asked Bowser as he placed the Princess on the ground next to his throne.

"My name is being Gera, not 'guy with littleness.'"

"That—" Bowser wasn't used to his subjects talking back to him, and with his headache he was having a hard time reacting to it. "That ain't important. What's important is—"

"It is of the most importance!" Fawful interrupted rudely, deeply insulted by the fact that he was not, in fact, being showered with praise and rewards. "How are you to be giving me the rewards and the promotions and the private armies if you are not having knowledge of who I am being!"

Bowser growled a bit, and Kamek decided to step in before his boss started belching fire. "You don't speak to our King like that, Gera! You can't just _demand_ rewards and—"

"Why _not!_ " Fawful was furious. "I just have committed a great deed and I am worthy of rewarding! And that is not mentioning also the engine which you all were praising myself for with many enthusiasms!"

"Wait—Waitaminnut," Bowser blinked, and stared at Fawful. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Kamek went pale. This wasn't good. "Of—of course, your forgetfulness. He's the new mechanic, remember? He piloted the ship when we captured Peach."

"No, I mean, from somewhere else!" Bowser bellowed, "I _know_ I've seen this guy before."

Kamek glared at Fawful in a 'how-could-you-do-this-to-me?' sort of way. Fawful glared back.

Bowser stomped a foot on the ground, and growled. "I know! You're that miserable little bean!" He roared, and small trail of smoke wafted out from his mouth. "You and your miserable old witch—you crashed my cruiser an' you… you…"

Kamek put his head in his hands. Here it comes…

" _YOU GAVE ME BOOBS!_ " Bowser screamed.

Fawful laughed. So much for that! He threw off the hat. "Yes! And I have done great things for you now and I demand rewarding!"

"I ain't gonna go _rewardin'_ the filthy little freak who did _that_ to me!" Bowser cried, "I don't care if you conquered the friggin' _world_ for me! _Do you realize how much of my army is still laughing at me!_ "

Fawful was unsympathetic. "I am of the thinking that Cackletta's possession of the body which is yours was much of an improvement on you. You are quite unpleasant to be looking at otherwise."

Bowser roared and breathed a plume of flame at Fawful, who nimbly dodged the predictable attack. He laughed again and ripped off the robe, now standing in all his red-cloaked glory. "Headgear!" He shouted. His Headgear soon flew into the room and attached itself to his head.

Bowser looked to Kamek with death in his eyes. " _Kamek!_ Did you _know_ who this little twerp was when you hired him!"

Kamek opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and said, "No." He paused, and then added in for good measure, "Of course not, your excellency. I never would have dreamed of offering him a job if I had known."

Fawful shot a blast at the wall behind Kamek. "Traitor!" he screeched. "I will be getting you for this!" He shot at the two of them, knocking them to the ground and kicking up a cloud of smoke. He knew he couldn't beat them both in a fight, so he decided to escape while they were down.

But not without taking something before he went.

So he flew out of the room, carrying Princess Peach in his little arms.

He wasn't just going to go yet, however. He flew to the nearby vault and blasted a hole into its wall. He utilized the vacuum-like unit on the Headgear and sucked up as much money as the containment unit could hold, then he flew down to the hangar and blasted a few holes into the new engine that he had made for them.

If they weren't going to appreciate his work, then they weren't going to keep any of it!

He then made his escape, knowing that it wouldn't be long before all of Bowser's armies began their pursuit.

He didn't care. He had the Princess, he had the money, and he had his freedom.

And soon, he would have _revenge._


	10. The chapter in which Fawful is hiding out.

He knew that Bowser's Paratroopas couldn't hope to catch up with him as long as his primary boosters held up.

What worried him, unfortunately, was the fact that the jet fuel he was using wasn't quite as effective as he'd hoped. His main boosters would only hold up for maybe an hour or so, then he'd have to use his slower secondary rockets.

It didn't help that he was lugging around a thrashing Princess and a load of gold.

He really didn't know where to go. He hadn't put any thought into it at all. All he knew was that he was leaving Bowser's castle and all the horrible people in it—although, inevitably, those horrible people would come after him…

He realized, after a while, that he was instinctively heading west, toward the Beanbean kingdom.

To home.

He couldn't go there, he knew. Too dangerous. He already had enough people chasing him, he didn't need more. But he couldn't turn around now…

He was over the Oho Ocean now. His primary rockets had broken down and his Headgear was automatically switching to auxiliary boosters. His speed was cut by at least half.

It wouldn't be long now. He had to think of something.

Maybe he could fight them off. After all, his Headgear's weapons systems were something to be feared.

"Headgear," he said, "Radar."

The Headgear produced a small screen, which positioned itself over Fawful's right eye. It made a few noises, showed a blank screen for a moment, then showed a few little dots.

And then a few more dots behind those dots.

And a whole lot more where those came from.

There goes that idea. He couldn't hope to fight off every one of them…

He looked around. Nothing but ocean as far as he could see. He looked at the radar. They were gaining on him, now. He looked down. Somehow, this portion of ocean looked familiar.

He grinned. He had an idea.

"I would be recommending that you have taking of a deep breath, Princess!" He said before plunging straight down.

"Wh-What!" She cried.

And they hit the water.

He zoomed down to the bottom. Sure enough, at the bedrock was a hole leading into an underwater cave.

This was where he fell after the castle exploded.

He went into the cave and turned off his rockets. He set himself and the Princess down on the seabed and looked around. He saw a tunnel a little ways off that might be worth exploring.

He looked back at the Princess to see she was practically turning blue. The look on her face amused him, and he let out a bubbly laugh.

"You may have breathing here, Princess!" He said, his voice garbled by the water but still understandable.

She looked confused, but was emboldened by the sight of Fawful being able to breathe underwater. She took a breath of the strange water, and was relieved to find that she was not going to drown. She sighed in relief.

Fawful looked upward, and saw the vague shadows of what were probably the Paratroopas passing by overhead. He grinned. The stupid things would never think to look down here.

He grabbed onto the rope around the Princess and started swimming toward the tunnel with the Princess in tow, turning on a flashlight imbedded in his Headgear as he swam through the dark waters.

Eventually he found a place where there was air. He remembered having flown by a small rock formation sticking out of the water, and this area must have been under it because it had a few holes that allowed air and moonlight through, which wouldn't be possible unless part of the ceiling poked out from under the water.

There was even an area of flat rock in the open air, just big enough to make a temporary living space. He pulled himself and the Princess out of the water, and walked in a circle to assess the place.

This seemed like as good a place as any to hide out. In fact, this was the _perfect_ place to hide out—no one would find him here!

He found himself smiling wildly. And he could wait here and prepare, maybe sneak out to buy some things with the money he stole… things to build horrible weapons with! And when he was ready—and only then!—he would lure Mario to him… lure him to his _doom!_

He started laughing. Peach looked at him funny. Usually villains thought out loud to her before laughing. She couldn't tell if this made him more or less insane than the average captor.

And then, he continued thinking, he would obliterate Bowser's armies, and Bowser himself…. And that traitorous fink-rat Kamek!

"Kamek!" he screamed, pointing upwards symbolically, "You will have many regrets! How dare you have betraying of me!"

He was suddenly very angry. Cackletta never would have done that to him. Cackletta never did anything like that. The only people she betrayed were the good guys, which was okay because that was what she was supposed to do. She never turned her back on him. Cackletta would never…

"Never would have calling me 'guy of littleness,' either," he mumbled. "Stupid Bowser! 'Guy of little,' he had saying! Speaking to Fawful as if I was a child of youngness!" he had resumed yelling by now, and was now stomping his feet frustratedly into the rock, "I am not being a child! I am— I am—" he paused, thinking. How old _was_ he? He never had bothered to keep track. Surely he was at least adolescent? "—I am NOT a child!" he said again.

He circled around furiously, trying to shake those unpleasant thoughts. It didn't matter, he assured himself. He'd destroy them all soon enough, and then…

… and then…

He blinked, and looked to the Princess.

"Excusing me," he said, "But how, exactly, does the kidnapping of the you equate to the conqueredness of the world?"

She thought about it for a moment, and shrugged. "I'm not sure. No one ever really got far enough to do anything other than kidnap me and rant about how they'll somehow take over the world."

Fawful sighed. "Perhaps maybe the Mushroom Kingdom would be wanting to let me be king in exchange for me not having the killing of you?"

"I don't think so," Peach said, "Usually when people try that, Mario comes and rescues me."

Fawful scoffed. "So when Mario is being out of the way, I am having a chance?"

Peach frowned, but didn't argue. There was no reasoning with villains.

Fawful crossed his arms, nodding. Okay, that seemed simple enough. Blowing things up would probably help too. And maybe he could execute a few high-ranking Mushroom Kingdom officials. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

He sat down, leaning against the rock wall. He'd best get to work as soon as possible, then. Of course, with the skies full of angry Paratroopas out looking for him, he'd also be better off waiting at least a few hours before he went out for supplies.

He yawned, tired. It had been a very long day. He could do with a good night's sleep about now…

He laid down, turning his Headgear's flashlight off.

He fell asleep quickly and dreamt of global conquest.


	11. The chapter in which Fawful is re-visiting Moleville.

"Hey, it's Gera!"

All the moles in the store looked up at Fawful, who hated that stupid bell on the front door. Made it downright impossible to just sneak in without being noticed.

"I say hello," said Fawful awkwardly.

"We were all wondering what happened to you," said a young girl mole with a pink bow on her head.

"Didja ever catch that thief?" another asked.

"Where all did you go, anyway?" a third mole asked him.

Fawful sighed. He never understood why the people here liked him so much. Actually, it was the same way in Rose town. Somehow he was just very likable when he wasn't blowing things up and stealing peoples' voices and such.

He ignored their questions. "I am in need of supplies."

"What for?" asked the little girl.

"It is something of much secrecy," he said, trying to seem as non-evil as he could manage, "You would not be wanting people to have stealing of my ideas, yes?"

"Ooooh!" she jumped up and down in interest. "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone!"

Fawful shook his head. The girl went "Aw, nuts." Fawful walked up to the counter.

"I am needing these things," Fawful handed a slip of paper to the clerk. "And also, if you are having it, some sort of water-proof containing box? Something which is being able to hold all these things?"

The clerk nodded, looking over the paper. "I think I've got something. Hold on."

The clerk went into a room in the back of the store. Fawful tapped his fingers on the counter, whistling absentmindedly as he waited.

Some ladies at the other end of the store were gossiping. Fawful listened in. "Hey, did you hear that the Princess got kidnapped?"

"Oh, I heard. Mario already rescued her."

"No, I heard that she got kidnapped _again_. Apparently right in front of Mario, too!"

"What, and Mario couldn't stop him?"

"No! And I hear it wasn't even Bowser, either. It was that guy from the Beanbean Kingdom… what was his name…?"

Fawful felt a tug on his cloak. He looked down to see the little ribboned girl.

"So where are you living now, Gera?" asked she.

"Somewhere that is having much privacy," Fawful answered.

"What was it like living in the mine?"

Fawful gritted his teeth. How he hated curious children…! "Dirty."

"Yeah, I'd bet! I got trapped in there once, you know," she prattled, "There was some bad people there with some sort of star thing. And then Mario came and rescued me!" she was off in her own childish little world of memory and daydreams now. "Mario is so cool! Hey Gera, have you ever met Mario?"

Fawful groaned, and called out to the clerk in the other room. "I have impatience!"

"Hold on!" The clerk emerged from the door, dragging a big heavy plastic box behind him. He hefted it up onto the counter. "Here you go, Gera."

Fawful opened the box and looked through it, making sure everything was there. Once he was satisfied, he closed the lid and clamped it shut. He pulled a bag of gold from his cloak and placed it on the desk. "Will this be covering it?"

The clerk looked into the bag, and nodded quickly. Fawful knew the gold in the bag was worth much more than the things he was buying, but he didn't care. He had more where that came from, and once he had finished building his newest creations he could just steal more.

He pulled the box off of the counter and started dragging it toward the door. It was heavy, but his headgear could carry it once he got far enough away to put it on without being seen.

The clerk stopped him before he left by saying, "Oh yeah, someone was looking for you."

Fawful didn't look over. He stood, looking at the door. "Yes?"

"Yeah. Shifty-looking Magikoopa."

Fawful smiled to himself, trying to hold in a laugh. "Yes?" he said again.

"You're… not in any trouble, are you?"

Fawful chuckled. "It is much the other ways around. _He_ is the one in trouble."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Fawful pushed open the door and left, dragging his box behind him.

So Kamek was looking for him. That was just fine; that rat-fink wouldn't find him, not in a million years.

He looked around the sky above. No broomsticks. No, Kamek wouldn't ever find Fawful.

That is, he wouldn't… until Fawful _wanted_ to be found.


	12. The chapter in which Fawful and Peach converse.

Princess Peach rolled over. She couldn't sleep. It was just too uncomfortable here. It was damp, cold, and sleeping on rocks wasn't very comfortable.

She sat up and sighed. She considered, for the millionth time, trying to escape, but thought better of it. Fawful had recently untied her, but replaced her bonds with a belt that would electrocute her if it got wet. Since the only way out was under water…

She tried to pull the thing off, but was unsuccessful. It didn't help any that she couldn't see well enough to look for some sort of weak point on the thing… curse the night time and the darkness of this cave.

She lay back down, figuring she may as well keep trying to sleep.

She could hear Fawful snoring lightly from the other end of the cave. She envied his ability to sleep in this place, even with that big helmet thing on his head.

In his sleep, Fawful chuckled. "O great Cackletta..," he mumbled.

Peach closed her eyes, telling herself that she needed sleep.

"We will have ruling," Fawful continued to sleep-talk, "And all the people who we are having ruling over will praise the name which is yours and is great…"

She tried to ignore him.

"And I am your loyal toady, always…," He snored, chuckled, and snored some more.

His breathing began to speed up, as though he were panicked. He spoke again, his voice now sounding pained. "C-Cackletta? Cackletta! Be coming back!"

Peach blinked. Suddenly this scary villain sounded like a lost child.

"O great Cackletta! You cannot be leaving! What am I, your dutiful servant, to do while you are taking the long dirt nap of foreverness! _Cackletta!_ " In the darkness, Peach could see Fawful's silhouette shoot upright. " ** _No!_ "**

There was silence, and then… the soft sound of sobbing.

"Oh, Cackletta… why must you have the haunting of your loyal toady?" He said, his voice soft as a prayer, "How could you make leaving of me…?"

Peach tried to ignore this. After all, Fawful was a villain and so was Cackletta. She really shouldn't be feeling sorry for him… after all, if people like him got their way the world would be in shambles.

And yet…

Her good nature got the best of her. "Um… Fawful…?"

There was a gasp, some rustling, and then a light turned on; the flashlight on Fawful's headgear. Fawful was standing now, his stature defensive. "You! How long have you been full of the awakenedness? "

Peach blinked, wondering if speaking up had been the best idea. "All night. Are—Are you okay?"

Fawful grimaced. "You have not heard any things! All noises that you may have thought you heard coming from the mouth of myself who is Fawful were obviously the talking fishes who live here that you have never heard of because you are stupid!"

She rolled her eyes. "Talking fishes."

"Yes. Be asking anyone."

She crossed her arms. "Sounds like the fish have some serious issues."

"Fish are having little stability of mentality. Everyone is of the knowledge of this. You obviously are unaware due to the fact that you are being a princess who is very sheltered and does not know anything of the world outside of crowns and castles and that eggy fishy stuff that fancy nobles eat!"

"Caviar, you mean."

"Ever of the what."

"I don't really care for the stuff. Those fish, though, sound like a kid who's just been abandoned by his mommy or something," She said, hoping he wouldn't bite her head off for delving this deep.

"I am not—that is saying—the _fish_ is not a kid!" Fawful snapped, "And I am having sureness that there are no mommies involved."

"Is that so?"

Fawful fell back into a seated position and pouted. He knew the Princess wasn't falling for this at all. Stupid cave with no separate rooms. What he wouldn't do for some privacy right about now…

"It is all the fault of those brothers," Fawful growled, "Red and Green. Ugh. You—you did not have seeing of what they did! Twice they destroyed my great and amazing mistress! The first time I was there for the saving of her, but the second… I… I was not…" he stopped. He was getting too emotional. It was too humiliating to get like this in front of his prisoner…

"You can't blame Mario and Luigi," Peach said gently, hoping that maybe she could talk some sense into the crazed little bean. "They do the same to anyone else who tries to take over the world—I mean, if they didn't—"

"If they did not, _what?_ The world might actually fall into the hands of someone who is actually having the capability to run it properly! I can see why you pitiful things have so much fear of _that_ idea!" Fawful threw his hands up into the air, "A ruler who is having competence! Horror!"

Peach frowned.

Fawful got up. "I have impatience for this. I am leaving," he walked over to the water's edge. "Do not allow your puny brain to be entertaining thoughts of the escape. Otherwise you will end up fried like the stupid fly who flies into the bug zapper because he is so stupid."

Fawful dove into the water and swam away furiously.


	13. The chapter in which Fawful is reminding himself of his purpose.

Fawful sat in the sand, watching the waves roll past in the soft moonlight.

Stupid Peach. She didn't know anything. None of them did. The only person who really ever understood anything at all was…

Cackletta.

She would have been a better leader than Peach was. Much better than Bowser, too, and Queen Bean, and Princess Daisy, and every other so-called "leader" of the countries of the world. It hurt him badly enough to know that he had lost her, but when he thought about it now… the _world_ had lost her.

Those stupid Mario brothers. Stupid so-called heroes.

He felt awful.

He got up and turned around, walking toward the center of Oho Oasis.

Rubble and debris from the explosion of Bowletta's castle had apparently washed ashore in large amounts, because the Oho Jees had built crude little structures with it. He frowned. Those little piles of pumice were once their ultimate weapon… now those stupid Oho Jees were sleeping in what was left of it!

Fawful kicked one of the structures. Its precariously stacked rocks teetered and collapsed, but the Oho Jee inside continued to sleep obliviously.

Stupid thing.

He stomped back to the beach and sat back down. The sun was starting to rise, but he really didn't want to return to the cave. Peach might still be awake. He didn't want to deal with her. He didn't know how Bowser could stand kidnapping that annoying woman all the time.

His mind began to wander to days long gone.

Fawful frowned, shaking his head. He missed those old days, but thinking about them did him no good.

But telling himself not to remember was worse than telling himself not to think about pink elephants.

_"Remember that you must always stay one step ahead of your enemy," Cackletta said as they walked along._

_Her nine-year-old apprentice took a step forward, standing ahead of her. "Liking this?"_

_"Not literally," she said flatly, "I mean that by the time your enemy learns what your plan is, it should already be coming to fruition."_

_"I am getting it," he paused, then kicked some dirt onto his mistress's cloak. "Ha! I was having plans to kick dirt onto the witch who is you! You did not know it until it was being too late for the doing of anything about it!"_

_She frowned. He faltered._

_He wondered if that had been a bad idea. He didn't want to get punished again._

_"Yes," she said calmly. "But try to think a bit bigger next time."_

_He let out a sigh of relief. He decided to throw in some flattery for good measure. "I who am Fawful, your loyal toady, think smallly because I have knowing that I will never be able to match the genius of your plan-making geniusness!"_

Cackletta shook her head. "An apprentice who can't match my genius isn't worth having! I don't keep you around for flattery, Fawful!"

_Fawful blinked, taken aback. He nodded, bowing a little. "… Of coursing, O great Cackletta. I have understanding."_

He didn't really understand. He didn't see why he should have to try so hard when Cackletta was around to do all the planning.

Maybe it was because she feared that this would happen, Fawful mused to himself. Maybe she realized that there was the chance of her dying, and she wanted to make sure he could pick up where she left off.

Cackletta always had a plan B.

She had trained him well. Yes, he had had a rocky start, but now… all of her lessons were beginning to take effect, and now he was on the cusp of something great. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He was planning, scheming, and soon he would be putting these plans into fruition. No one had any idea what he was doing. He was more than _one step_ ahead of his enemies—he was _miles_ ahead!

Suddenly, he didn't feel so miserable anymore. Sure, the world had lost Cackletta, but it still had _him_. That was just as good.

He stood up. This was the same beach on which he had first vowed to continue Cackletta's plans. His fervor had not diminished in the least since last he was here. If anything, he was even more dedicated now than ever before.

When he was younger, he always wanted to help give Cackletta the world. Now that she was gone, he could still achieve that dream.

He would give her the world by taking it for himself.


	14. The chapter in which Fawful is taking the castle of the Bowser.

The moon hung high over Bowser's castle. It was barely a sliver of a crescent and wasn't good enough to illuminate anything, but the soft red glow of lava lit everything from beneath.

It set a mood alright, but Fawful thought it was a bit pointless. All that lava was good for was keeping the place too hot and making it dangerous to walk where there weren't any safety rails. Bowser had impractical tastes.

The little green bean was sitting upon the roof of one of the castle's highest towers, going over his plan in his head. The time he spent here would come in handy. He may not have been there long, but he had memorized the layout of certain places, and that was enough…

He stood, knowing that he had to hurry before someone would notice him. The most important thing was to stay hidden. They couldn't know he was there.

He had to be one step ahead.

He jumped down from the roof, waiting until the last minute to fire his Headgear's rockets and land harmlessly without a sound upon a balcony on the fifth floor of the tower. He peered around the edge of the building to see the main castle nearby, then lifted a finger to check where the wind was blowing. He smiled and knelt down, placing something onto the ground, then re-ignited his rockets and shot back upward to the roof.

The balcony exploded below him, and he watched with satisfaction as all of the Koopa Troopas on the grounds rushed to the tower.

The smoke from the explosion and ensuing fire rose and the wind blew it along, and Fawful ignited his rockets and disappeared into the ashen plume, which was quickly being blown toward the castle.

He slipped in through a window with a broken lock, and entered into an empty storage room. He pressed his ear to the door and listened as Koopas rushed along, yelling about being under attack. He waited until all the footsteps died away, then he opened the door and, quiet as a rodent, rushed down the now-empty corridor.

He watched the ceiling as he ran until he found—yes! An air vent!

He floated up and removed the grate, slipped into the duct, and then replaced the grate. Carefully, not wanting to make a sound, he made his way along the cramped space.

Fawful crawled down the duct, looking through each vent as he arrived at them. More corridor, more corridor, barracks, corridor, bathroom, more heavily guarded corridor, and…

Aha. The throne room.

He peered down, seeing that both Bowser and Kamek were present in the room. How convenient. Bowser was sitting in his throne uneasily, and Kamek was standing before him.

"Who would dare attack my castle?" Bowser roared, smoke coming from his nostrils, "My newly rebuilt castle! Doesn't anyone got any respect!" He growled, seething. "I oughtta… I oughtta… urgh! I'm so mad!"

Kamek shook his head. "It's probably nothing, your crankiness. Some bob-ombs probably just had too much soda or something." Kamek didn't sound so sure of this.

"When I find who's responsible…!" Bowser continued, ignoring his advisor completely. "He's gonna wish he had never even thought of blowing my stuff up! Destroying things is my job, no one else's!"

Fawful smiled, aiming his blaster carefully.

Kamek shook his head. "Calm down, your excitableness. Remember your blood pressure."

"Forget my blood pressure!" Bowser slammed a fist into his throne's arm rest. "What about my castle!"

Fawful took this moment to strike. He shot a blast right at Bowser's head, knocking him—and his whole throne—backward from the force of the blow. He dropped into the room with a mad grin across his face.

"Your castle is belonging to me!"

Kamek looked down at his now-unconscious king, then at the intruder. He produced his magic wand and pointed it at the bean threateningly. "Fawful…!"

Fawful didn't waste any time. He shot the wand from Kamek's hand before he could manage to do anything.

Kamek looked worried for a split second. He opened his mouth to call the guards, but was blasted unconscious before he could get a sound out.

Fawful stood over his felled enemies.

One step ahead. They never stood a chance.


	15. The chapter in which Fawful is having the revealing of his plan.

When Kamek came to, the first thing he noticed was that Fawful was sitting on Bowser's throne.

The second and third things he noticed were, respectively, that he was already standing up and that his head hurt terribly.

"I am of the presumption that your rest was being enjoyable?" Fawful asked patronizingly.

Kamek was furious. He tried to lunge at Fawful, but found that he was unable to move.

Fawful waved a small remote control, smiling madly. "Do not be trying to move, as you will finding that you will have much inability to do so."

Kamek again tried to move. It didn't work. "What have you done?"

"I had the giving of you a lovely new hat," Fawful said excitedly. "I _do_ hope that you are liking it! It has much specialness. Going on! Have asking me what it does!"

Kamek, though he was loath to go along with Fawful's little game, conceded because he really did want to know. "What does it do?"

Fawful chuckled. "It makes you the puppet of my evil puppeteering!" Fawful adjusted his glasses. "While you have wearing of that hat, I can be controlling of you with this," he held up the remote controller again, "Are you impressed? I have much pride in this."

Kamek was mortified. "You—you've put these mind-control things on the whole Koopa Clan?"

Fawful laughed. "No! Of coursing not! That would be a wasting of materials!" Fawful giggled a little more, and continued. "Koopas have stupidity. They are seeing their leader telling them to do odd things, and they say 'I will have doing of it, because I am told to,' and they overlook the strange hat upon the head of their Bowser because they are stupid, as I had saying before because it is truth and is bearing repeating. Stupid, I say again. I am not needing mind controls on them all. They already are controlled." Fawful sat back, getting comfortable in the throne which was clearly not built to be sat in by someone as tiny as he, "I have the install of the helmets on you, obviously, and on the Bowser and his stupid children. I am having a few spares for any smarter ones that might have the catching of on, though I doubt I will have needing for them."

"You really think that'll work?" Kamek said in disbelief, shocked at Fawful's plan and offended by his blatant bashing of Kamek's people. "The rest of the Koopas will notice what's going on!"

Fawful just smiled, amused to no end. "You are wishing that. Howingever, this is not being the case. Already a squadron of Koopas are having deliver of all Bowser's gold and treasure to a secret place where I may use it later. Some others are redecorating this ugly castle and removing the décor of the Bowser who has bad taste which I spit upon. Still more are of the forging of me a crown that I may wear upon my head when I am taking over the rest of the world. None have had any questioning. All do my bidding."

Kamek was furious. He tried to move, wanting to rip the helmet off of his head, but the best he could manage was a small twitch in his pinky finger.

He severely regretted getting involved with this little psycho.

Fawful kicked his feet happily, looking like a little kid who had just gotten a big new toy. "I have the showing of you. Bowser was not wanting to reward me? Fine. I will have the rewarding of myself. He would not giving me my own army? I will take his," he leaned forward, grinning dangerously. "You were wanting to manipulate me. Now I have the manipulation of _you_."

"You little…!" Kamek growled, "After all I did for you! I gave you all that money, I let you use my office… I pulled you out of the gutter! Without me, you'd still be sitting in that cave in Moleville!"

"I had only momentary difficulty," Fawful insisted, leaning back again. "Besiding, you did all only to further yourself. I do not have blindness. My good workings only made you look better. I do not like being used."

"You wouldn't even have that stupid Headgear of yours if it wasn't for me!" hissed Kamek.

Fawful chuckled. "It is being too bad that you had the betraying of me, then. What a wasting."

Kamek seethed, at a loss for words.

Fawful fiddled with the remote control idly. "You knowing," Fawful said, "I can even putting you in and out of consciousness. Even when you are being sleeping, I can still have the controlling of you. Why, for the last three days I have had you doing very embarrassing things while you were sleeping." He laughed, "I had made you say many a few funny things on camera," He pointed to a button on the remote. "If you are beginning to have the annoying of me, I am pushing this button and you go from the irritating but harmless Kamek-the-nanny to my own subservient zombie thing. It has much convenience."

Kamek frowned. He started to realize exactly how bad a situation he was in.

Fawful smiled. "I tire of you. Go make cleaning of the bathrooms," he grinned deviously. "I have a nice little outfit for you to have wearing while you are doing that."

Kamek tried to protest, but Fawful hit the little button. Everything went black.


	16. The chapter in which Fawful is having the intimidation of the Princess.

Princess Peach was somewhat relieved to be back in Bowser's castle. Granted, she would have preferred to be home in her own castle where she wasn't being held captive, but she had to count her blessings. At least there was a bed in her cell. It wasn't a particularly comfortable bed, but it was more than the cave had.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of the dungeon door creaking open. It presently closed, and the sound was followed by two sets of footsteps. Fawful appeared in front of her cell's barred doors, with a severely zoned-out Bowser lumbering behind him, a strange helmet atop his horned head. She recognized the thing; it was one of the things Fawful had been building in the cave.

Fawful smiled up at her. "I am assuming that you are being pleased to be in such environs of familiarness, yes?"

"Yes," she said. A thought occurred to her, and she smiled a bit. "You know, it's going to be much easier for Mario to find me now that I'm here. And he knows the place like the back of his hand, so—"

"I have counted on it!" Fawful laughed, "I have the readiness, Princess. He may have coming at any time he has liking!" he leaned against Bowser, who was as stiff as the walls around them. "With my amazing genius which is amazing, pairing with the brute force of Bowser and his very large army… not even Mario, even with the help of his annoying sibling, can be standing a chance againsting me!"

Princess Peach looked up at Bowser. He looked so strange, as though he had been reduced to a mere mannequin and his mind had been tossed out a million miles away.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"Minding control," Fawful said simply, "It has convenience. It is too bad that toads do not have the level of stupidity that the Koopas are having, otherwise I would easily be abling to mind-control the ruler of the Mushroom kingdom, who is you, and to the same there that I have had doing here. But then," he chuckled, "An evil plan does not have any fun if it does not include some violence, yes?" he noticed the princess' unnerved expression, and leaned in towards her, speaking in hushed tones purely for the sake of seeming more spooky. All warfare included a psychological element, after all. "Once I have had the dispatching of the siblings who are Red and Green, I will sending the entirety of the Clan of the Koopas out to wipe the Mushroom kingdom off of the map which currently has the Mushroom kingdom on it but will not once I have wiped it off of the aforementioned map!"

The princess tried to hide how afraid she was. Part of her knew that there was nothing to be scared of; Mario had beaten both Bowser and Fawful before, and he could do it again easily. But Fawful just knew how to get at her… all those evil, clever plots coming out of a bean who barely looked older than a gradeschooler, the dastardly ideas that he managed to convey through such broken English, and that grin of his…

Fawful creeped her out on so many levels.

"You won't be able to beat Mario," She said, both to defy him and to assure herself.

"You are being able to keep saying that to yourself," Fawful said, "But regardless, that does not have making of it true."

"He beat you before!" she insisted, "He beat you, he's beaten Bowser, and he beat Cackletta! Mario will always win!"

"He has been having extraordinary luckiness!" Fawful said, more confident than she had ever seen him before, "His luck is run out, starting at this point that is right now! In fact, the luck of the entire world in its entirety is out at this moment now! This world will be belonging to me, and no stupid plumbers in their stupid overalls will be able to be doing anythinging about it!" Fawful let loose his signature laugh. After laughing for a moment, he pulled a remote from his cloak and pressed a button. He was joined in his laughter by the awkward, soulless laughing of the marionette Bowser.

"This is the beginning," Fawful said once he had finished his laugh. "The beginning of a world which is new in that it will have new leadership: me! Be saying your goodbyes to the world that you had knowing before, as it will be gone shortly!"

Fawful turned on his heel and marched out, radiating glee as he left the room, followed by the zombified Koopa king.

The princess sat down on her bed and wrung her hands.

"Mario can do it," she said in a tiny voice, trying to work through her fears, "He always does…"

She remembered how small and pitiful he had seemed that night in the cave, and now…

What a transformation.


	17. The chapter in which Mario comes and the battle has beginning.

One of the first things Fawful had done when he took Bowser's castle was to install a surveillance system, particularly around the exterior of the place, so as to detect Mario's presence before he got inside.

It did exactly as it was supposed to.

Fawful watched the screen happily, watching as Mario walked across the stone bridge linking Vista hill to the entrance of the castle. Mario was looking around as he walked, and Fawful knew he was probably wondering why nothing had attacked him yet.

Fawful always thought Bowser's strategy was lame. Send soldiers at Mario in small amounts, just spaced well enough apart for Mario to jump on them, one by one. Why did Bowser never think to just send all the soldiers all at once? He certainly had enough manpower to easily overpower the plumber, so why only send bite-sized bits out to attack? Fawful certainly wasn't going to make that mistake. He was using a king-sized offensive.

He used his remote control to have Bowser walk over to the PA system, and spoke into a microphone on the remote. His words were immediately repeated by Bowser into the intercom:

"Attentions! It is the demand of your leader, the very large Bowser who is the one in charge here, that _all_ soldiers have reporting to the throne room where there is a throne which I sit at. Be having preparedness for battle! The very annoying Mario has arrival!"

Fawful then turned the intercom off, sat Bowser down on the throne, and smiled to himself as he went over his impending victory in his head.

He decided that he needed a witness to this momentous occasion. He pushed some buttons on the remote and Kamek, completely brain-dead, stumbled out of the closet that Fawful had been storing him in, and walked up to Fawful. Fawful pressed another button, and Kamek lost his zombified expression.

"I say to you good morning that is actually an afternoon but it is like a morning to you as you have just woken up!" Fawful said.

"I hate you," Kamek said flatly, "How long have you kept me unconscious?"

"A coupling days," Fawful said, glancing at the doors to make sure no Koopas were entering the room yet. "I have the waking of you only so that you may have witnessing of my ultimate triumph."

"Oh yes?" Kamek said, sounding rather skeptical.

"Very yes! Mario is arrived! You may have watching as I am defeating the Mushroom kingdom's hero!" Fawful giggled. "It is filled with excitement! I am finally going to place the icing on the cake of my revenge! I will finally have victory against the stupid red plumber, Cackletta will finally have the revenging, and I will have the conquering of the world!"

"What are you going to do, talk Mario to death?"

Fawful snickered. "You are thinking you have much cleverness, do not you? Look," he pointed to some monitors off to the side of the room. In them could be seen the entire Koopa clan, rushing to the throne room. "Have you seeing that? That is the overwhelming of Mario. Does this sight not bring smiling to your eyes?"

"Not really. What'll really be nice to see," Kamek grinned, "Is when you get your green little butt kicked."

"I will have showing you!" Fawful roared, "You will be seeing! I will have all the victories, and you will have jealousy! 'I should have had respecting of Fawful who is amazing,' you will saying! But it will be too late for the apologizing! Hah!"

Kamek groaned, trying unsuccessfully to move. He didn't want to be here. He just knew this was going to go all wrong, and when it did something bad would inevitably end up happening to him.

"I don't suppose you'd let me observe from a remote location?" he asked flatly, knowing what the answer would be.

"Of the coursing not," Fawful said, sitting down on the throne's armrest. "You must being here, seeing the action of my victory with the hand of first."

"I was afraid of that."

"There is nothing to be afearing!" Fawful said, kicking his feet, "Excepting, is that, the humiliationing that will be happening to you when I am proving you wrong and finally making the Bowser formally hand his ownership of kingdom over to me. And also I may have the punching of your face."

Kamek sighed. This was going to be horrible.

Fawful hummed blissfully. "But, that is to be saying, I cannot have the letting of you be speaking so as to tell the soldiers that they are being the deceived…," Fawful pressed a button on the remote control. "Theres! Now you may have conscious observing, but… fururu… well, try to have speaking!"

Kamek opened his mouth. No sound came out, much to his puzzlement. The mind-control helmet had to have been extremely detailed in order to target the specific neurons needed for speech…

Fawful chuckled. "Yes, I am full of sureness that you have impression. Now! Watch and be amaz-ed at my winning!"

Fawful jumped behind the throne just as the Koopa Troop burst into the large throne room. Once the army had all assembled, Fawful spoke into the remote again, causing Bowser to speak.

"Now is the winning time! Mario will have walking through those doors very soonly, and we will have the defeating of him, once and for alling!"

The Koopa Troop cheered in unison. Kamek was amazed and horrified at the fact that no one so much as noticed how many things were amiss with their king. No one noticed the funny hat, the sudden speech impediment, nothing.

"We have much might!" Fawful-Bowser continued, "And we will be applying that mightness to Mario's head in the form of injuries and concussions! We will have victory!"

The Koopa Troop cheered again, but stopped suddenly at the creaking noise of the giant double-doors opening. Everyone turned, all at once, to look at Mario face-to-face.

"Now!" Fawful cried, jumping up on top of the throne. Mario could see him clearly, but the Koopas, looking the other way, were blissfully unaware. "Koopa Troop! _ATTACKING!_ "

And so the battle began.


	18. The chapter which includes the literary element known as the climax.

A mass of Koopas, Goombas, Bob-ombs, and so on rushed in on Mario, who certainly wasn't expecting to see so many enemies squished into one room.

Seeing Fawful there was a shock too. And… were Fawful and Bowser speaking in _unison?_

Mario pulled out his hammer and started bashing away at enemies, thoroughly bewildered.

Fawful chuckled, standing atop the throne, clutching the remote control tightly as he watched the conflict unfold. Mario would hit one Goomba only to get kicked by a Koopa, he'd try jumping only to be smacked by a Paratroopa, He'd try to use his Firebrand, only to be overwhelmed while charging up…

Fawful looked down at Kamek. "See? I had the telling of you that I would have victory this day."

Kamek, of course, was unable to respond.

Kamek knew that it couldn't be this easy. Mario was much better than this. Any moment now, he was sure, Mario was going to find some way out of this. If it were this easy to take out the red-hatted plumber, then Bowser would have taken over the world years ago! Fawful was underestimating him badly.

Mario smashed yet another Koopa, quickly jumping to the side to avoid a Goomba that was charging at him. He kicked aside a second Goomba, dodging some Boos as he charged up his Firebrand. He let loose a fireball in the direction of a Lakitu that was preparing to throw a spiny at him, knocking it out of the air. He gripped his hammer and lifted it, preparing to take down a few more enemies, but was hit from behind by a dashing Koopa and knocked to the ground.

His attempts to get back up were thwarted by a group of Goombas who had all apparently decided that it was time for Mario to learn how it felt to be jumped upon. Just about everyone else got the same idea into their heads, and all at once a large group tackled the plumber, squishing the poor Goombas who had gotten there first. Mario ended up at the bottom of a very large dogpile.

Fawful giggled with delight as Mario was overwhelmed. This had to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He sat down, kicking his feet giddily as he watched. He occasionally kicked Bowser in the head as he did so, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like the Koopa King could complain.

With much difficulty, Mario crawled out from under the pile. Thankfully for him, the mass of enemies that had tackled him hadn't noticed that their target had gotten out from under them. He looked around for any other hazards, then ran toward the throne with his hammer in his hands.

Fawful frowned, seeing the approaching plumber. He hit some buttons on the remote and Kamek began to move.

"Go have the getting of him," Fawful said to Kamek, pulling out Kamek's wand from his pocket and handing it to the Magikoopa.

Kamek walked helplessly toward Mario, sauntering awkwardly until he stopped. He felt himself raise his arm and point his wand. He shot a few weak spells out at Mario.

Kamek didn't like this at all. Fawful obviously didn't know the chants for any spells, and without any magical words uttered all he could cast were pathetically weak spells.

This was going to be painful.

Mario dodged the first few spells that were thrown at him, but got hit by another. It wasn't particularly effective; he just kept coming, and proceeded to whack Kamek in the head, and then again in the torso, throwing him against a wall.

Fawful grimaced, trying to get Kamek to get back up; it was no use, he was knocked out of commission. He considered using Bowser, but luckily it was that moment that the Koopa Troop finally realized that Mario had gotten away from them.

The Koopa Troop dashed at Mario, overwhelming him quickly. Fawful relaxed again, smiling as Mario got the living daylights knocked out of him.

He watched as Mario struggled to keep from being ripped apart. This was his moment of triumph; Mario wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer.

Fawful hopped off of the top of the throne and back onto the ground. He walked over to the skirmish; the Koopa Troop paid him no mind, not even noticing that he wasn't supposed to be there. He smiled at Mario, who looked at him with a look of utter contempt as he desperately struggled to keep his enemies at bay. Fawful chuckled.

"How is it feeling, O stupid Red one? This is the defeating time! The time when I am having the destroying of you and making the avengeness of my great mistress who you had the killing of!" Fawful laughed enthusiastically, feeling more pleased with himself than ever before. "And then when you are being in the afterlife which is the life you are having after you are being dead, the great Cackletta can also have the revenging of herself! You will forever be having the suffering, as Cackletta will always be torturing the fink-rat who is you!"

Fawful laughed once again, and it was about at that time that Kamek came to.

Kamek groaned, putting his hand to his head. He was in pain. Stupid Mario and his stupid hammer. And Fawful was particularly horrible, for so foolishly deploying him like that. Stupid, stupid…

Kamek had gotten onto his feet and was stretching out his sore joints when it finally struck him that he could move of his own volition. He put a hand to the top of his head, to find that the mind-control helmet was in pieces. He took off what was left of it and threw it to the ground, grinning at this fortunate turn of events. Perhaps getting pummeled in the head wasn't such a bad thing after all!

He looked around and saw Fawful over at the front line, busying himself with laughing at Mario. Perfect.

Kamek snuck over to the throne, where his zombified king sat. He climbed up and attempted pulling the helmet off of the Koopa king, to no avail. The thing was tightly secured to his head. He started bashing at the thing with his wand, but that didn't work. He wished he had the physical strength Mario had. He sighed, and rolled up his sleeves.

"Sorry about this, your braindeadness," he said quietly to Bowser, pointing his wand at the helmet.

He muttered a few dangerous-sounding incantations, and a small explosion ensued, damaging the helmet as well as some of Bowser's face.

Kamek looked over at Fawful nervously, hoping that the psychotic little bean hadn't heard that. But it so happened that Fawful had just started throwing Bob-ombs at Mario, and thus Kamek's little explosion had been drowned out by the larger ones over there.

If that wasn't a sign that luck was on his side, Kamek didn't know what was.

The little blast hadn't destroyed the helmet, but it had knocked a good-sized hole into its tough exterior. Kamek stuck his little hand into the hole and grabbed hold of a clump of wiring, hoping he wasn't grabbing any sort of kill-switch or anything. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Kamek ripped out the wires.

Bowser's eyes lost their glazed-over look. Kamek exhaled, breathing a sigh of relief. He put his hand over his king's mouth and told Bowser to be quiet, and then proceeded to explain the situation.

Fawful had gotten bored with playing Bob-omb dodgeball with Mario and was now once again standing back and watching Mario take a beating. It was all going so well until suddenly he heard a roar from the back of the room.

Fawful twirled around to see the Koopa king, standing with his fists clenched and smoke streaming ominously from his nostrils. Kamek stood behind him, a cocky grin on his face. Fawful's eyes went wide.

"You miserable little bean- _FREAK!_ " Bowser roared, stepping forward with such force as to send a slight tremor through the floor. " _YOU_ brainwashed _ME!_ No one brainwashes the king of the Koopas! _NO ONE!_ You hear me, you little runt!"

Fawful felt himself trembling. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Bowser wasn't supposed to be sentient. He wasn't supposed to be screaming like this.

He looked around himself.

The Koopa Troop wasn't supposed to be looking at him like that.

Fawful shook his head. No, it didn't matter. Plan B, plan B…

Darn it! He didn't _have_ a plan B!

He turned again, looking to Mario.

He'd just have to improvise.

He rushed at the plumber. None of this mattered! The only important thing was that he avenged Cackletta! If that meant that he would get destroyed by a raging Bowser, then so be it! He crashed into Mario, knocking the hero to the stone floor. He vaguely heard Bowser shouting something, but it was lost on him. Fawful's world had shrunk; Bowser wasn't there, nor were the quickly advancing Koopa Troopas. All that was there was Fawful and Mario—and Fawful intended to bring the population down from two to one.

He charged up the blaster on his Headgear and grinned madly as he prepared to shoot the laser straight through Mario's head. The blaster emitted a high-pitched squeal as it built up high concentrations of energy, the frequency eventually becoming so high as to not be hearable at all—it was ready. This was it.

He felt a multitude of hands grabbing at him.

He shot.

He was jerked backwards as the blast exited his Headgear—Fawful, in his panicked state, was only aware of a scorch mark right next to Mario's unscathed head, and a relieved look on that stupid plumber's face.

Fawful struggled to get free, but couldn't do it. He shot out quick blasts, but they did little against the mass of angry Koopas bearing down upon him. He found himself screaming in fury, shooting in the direction of Mario, trying to take him down while he still could, but he did nothing but miss.

The Koopas continued to drag him along, pulling him into a mass of angry reptiles. They all lunged at him, tackling him with a force that his tiny body wasn't built to take.

Everything faded to black.


	19. The chapter in which Fawful has fury.

His entire body ached.

He groaned, and opened his eyes to see a big blur.

He felt around the ground near him until he found his glasses, which he promptly put onto his head.

Above him was an unfamiliar ceiling. He looked around, seeing that he was in some sort of prison cell.

He sat up, gasping as pain shot through his body. He started to remember what had happened, his terrible defeat…

He slammed a fist into the ground and screamed, fury filling his tiny body, and then proceeded to mutter angrily to himself, seething.

A voice came from the cell adjacent to his, echoing slightly in the stone-block building.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Fawful growled. "I say to you yes I am having the waking, O great nanny."

"I'm _not_ a nanny." Kamek replied, defensive.

"So you keeping say," Fawful paused, looking around again to see a passed-out Bowser in a cell a ways away from him. He took note of the fact that his own cell seemed much more heavy-duty than the others around him. "What had transpiration?"

"You got your butt handed to you," Kamek sounded quite pleased as he said this.

"I have awareness of that," Fawful snapped, putting a hand to his sore side. "I am asking of afterwards."

Kamek's voice lost its joviality. "We tried to finish Mario off, but he apparently ate some mushrooms or something he had brought with him while we were taking care of you. So he beat us."

Fawful frowned. "So the Red one is still having life?"

"He's got a few broken bones, but he's not dead yet."

Fawful crossed his arms, displeased. "You are bearing the fault for all of this!"

" _Me?_ You're the one who started this whole mess!"

"If you had not had the freeing of yourself and the wakening of the Bowser, my plan would have had the succeeding!"

"If you hadn't stupidly sent me to fight Mario, none of that would have happened!"

"It is not being my fault that you are having no use!"

"I'm not the useless one, _you_ are!"

"Fink-rat!"

"Stupid freak!"

Fawful growled and kicked the wall.

The two fell silent for a moment, until Kamek spoke again.

"You should feel pretty special," he said, his voice a combination of amusement and annoyance, "They usually reserve that cell of your for Bowser, since it's got the strongest walls and all. You must've _really_ scared Mario and the Princess."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

Fawful felt a little happy with that. He pulled himself to his feet and limped over to the far wall, the one with a window in it, through which he could see the outside world.

"I guess I should be pleased," Kamek said casually, "His sleepiness shouldn't have much trouble busting out of a normal cell, once he finally wakes up. And naturally he'll break me out too." He chuckled, "You can fend for yourself."

Naturally, Fawful's Headgear was gone. Probably locked up somewhere where he'd never get to it—not without another Headgear, in any case.

He began rummaging through his pockets, looking for anything of use. There was nothing; they must have searched him and confiscated anything he had hidden. He took off his shoes and looked to see if there was anything there, but it seemed that they had thought to remove the lockpick he had hidden there. He put his shoes back on and then removed his glasses. He held them to his ear and shook them, producing a light rattling sound. He smiled.

Fawful opened a small compartment in the thick frame of his glasses. He held it upside down and a small tube with a string sticking out of it fell out. He opened another compartment on the other side and produced from it a match.

He couldn't remember what he had been thinking when he hid those in there, but he was glad for it now. After all, you never knew when you'd need a discrete stick of dynamite. Particularly since this was a very potent form of TNT that could pack quite a whallop into a stick only two inches long.

Kamek continued talking, unaware of Fawful's plotting. "Hm? You're not going to rant at me about how I'm a stupid 'fink-rat' and how you'll 'have destroying of' me if I leave you here, or something?" Kamek laughed.

"Fink rat, I will have destroying of you," Fawful said with humor, wedging the dynamite stick into a crack in the window frame.

Kamek detected the mirth in Fawful's voice. "What're _you_ so happy about?"

"You will have seeing," Fawful said, lighting the match. "Or hearing. Ever of which."

Fawful lit the fuse, then ran to the other end of the cell and crouched over, plugging his ears with his fingers. The TNT exploded loudly, filling the cell with smoke and dust. Fawful got back up and looked at the damage, coughing in the fresh smoke.

"What was _that!_ " Kamek yelled from his cell.

Fawful smiled as he saw light filtering in from a new hole in the wall. "I think I will have leaving now," Fawful said, "I suppose I will have the seeing of you at some later timing."

Fawful then proceeded to climb out of the hole and out into the sunlight.

He made a run for it, running in the only direction that he didn't see any other buildings. Luckily no one was nearby—it looked to be morning, only a little bit after sunrise, so most of the kingdom was probably still asleep. He turned and looked back to see Kamek looking through his window at him. Fawful grinned and waved mockingly at the trapped Magikoopa before once again turning away and running off.

So he had failed. That was horrible, sure, but he was still alive! He had been sure, when those Koopas had him, that he would never again see another day. But here he was! Free, alive—very sore, but that would pass.

And perhaps his failure wasn't such a bad thing. Though he had failed to take over the world and kill Mario, he _had_ put Mario through an unpleasant ordeal. When he thought about it, that really wasn't so bad. If Mario had broken bones, he'd be suffering for months. Perhaps failing was almost as good as succeeding, if it meant causing Mario so much suffering. He was sure that Cackletta would be just as pleased to see her killer be tortured over long periods of time as she would to see him be killed outright.

What's more—he was more feared than Bowser now! If they were so willing to risk the Koopa King escaping just in hopes of containing one little bean, then that meant that they realized exactly how powerful and dangerous Fawful really was.

He was a big-time villain now. Once word got around, he might even be the most infamous bad guy in the kingdom—nay, the _world_!

He ran off into the bright morning. He may have been defeated, but he wasn't down for the count quite yet! He'd just given Mario a taste of the horrible fate that was in store for him, and he was free to continue his scheming. The next time, Mario wouldn't be so lucky.

The next time Fawful struck, the whole world would know his fury!


End file.
